To Err is Human
by Ichiban Victory
Summary: It all started out right for Lina, but then Amelia turned into a werewolf, tore across the countryside, and then Zelgadis got involved. What's a girl to do? {Complete!}
1. To Err is Human Part 1

By all accounts it had started out as a glorious day. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and firewood was plentiful. The last factor was important to Amelia since Lina had charged her with the task of finding wood to cook their evening meal. Amelia had found more than enough, but she decided it was better to be safe than sorry, so she continued back to the campsite with a huge load of wood. She hummed a cheery tune to herself, so caught up in the glorious day as she was.

Yes, everything was perfect! -aside from the two shadowy figures hiding in the bushes.

"Is she the one?" whispered one shadow to the other.

The second pulled out a small piece of parchment and read it off: "Short dark hair? Yep. Blue eyes? Uh-huh. Insanely cheery demeanor? You bet! That's her all right. So did you bring the secret weapon?" 

"Of course! The boss would kill me if I hadn't! And stop calling him that, his name is Harvey!" The first figure pulled out a box and opened it, revealing many small capsules, one which contained a mosquito. The figure opened the capsule, releasing the mosquito.

"You ready, Harvey?" He looked at the other capsules. "So what's it going to be today? Bear, beaver, badger? Or maybe a rabbit...or a raven!"

The other man rolled his eyes. "Just stick to the boss's plan!" 

"But wolves are so typical! That boss of our's has no imagination."

"He'll have our heads if you don't hurry! She's getting away!" 

"All right, I hear you! C'mere, Harvey." He held up a capsule to the mosquito, who stuck his probe-like mouth inside. "There ya go. Now go do what you do best and I'll give you your favorite treat!" 

"There he goes.."

"Yeah, I've been training him special, just for things like this." 

"Have you done it often?"

"Nah, just thought it would be best to be prepared."

"Weirdo."

"Look! He did it! And here he comes back!"

"Good, let's just get out of here. We've got things to take care of."

"Great job, Harvey!"

"Little bloodsucker. I just hope this works."

"Of course it'll work. The boss hired me for my skills! And another thing, only female mosquitoes suck blood. Harvey and his pals go for tree sap."

"You really are a weirdo, you know that? Now let's go, we've got more work to do!"

With that, the two men snuck off into the forest.

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Lina Inverse, sorcery genius extraordinaire, was having a great day! She and Gourry, her constant companion, had been traveling about employing their skills, or busting bandits when things got slow, when they ran into Amelia. Apparently she had been out "questing for Justice", so she joined up with Lina and Gourry. They had spent most of the day just traveling about, reminiscing on previous outings, and just enjoying each other's company.

They had intended on staying the night in a nearby village, but the weather had been so great that they decided to camp out for the night. (Plus, the creek full of fish didn't hurt!) Lina was currently decreasing the fish population and would have continued doing so had she not noticed her huge pile of fish.

"Hey Gourry, how's the campsite going?"

"The tents are up, I've got the fire pit built, all we need now is some firewood." Gourry answered.

"Amelia'd better hurry. I don't know how much longer I can wait!"

"Here I am!" exclaimed a huge pile of wood. Said pile was held up by Amelia's legs, Lina noticed.

"Think you got enough there?" Lina joked.

Amelia smiled as she set down the wood. "Well, I wanted to make sure we would have enough."

Gourry took two sticks from the pile and got to work starting a fire. Lina watched in anticipation.

"Too bad I can't just toss a Fire Ball in there. That would certainly speed things up!" Lina chuckled to herself.

"Miss Lina, the last time you did that it blew up the whole campsite!"

"Hey, I can always dream." Lina smirked at the memory.

"Got it!" Gourry added more fuel to the small flame until a good-sized fire was burning.

"All right! Way to go, Gourry! Now let's get these delicious fish cooked before I starve to death!"

Amelia just giggled. Some things about Lina would never change! 

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Lina leaned back against a fallen log, savoring the last of her meal. She glanced up into the sky. "Looks like we'll have a full moon tonight. You know what that means..." she gave an evil little smile. 

Amelia shivered, despite the warmth of the fire. "Wh-what?" she asked, hoping it wasn't going to be another scary story about ghosts. 

"Lycanthropes." Lina whispered, with an air of mystery.

Gourry scratched his head. "A lyca-what?"

"You know, a shape-shifter."

"Oh! You mean like a werewolf!" Gourry beamed.

Lina hung her head. So much for a dramatic beginning to her tale! "Yes, Gourry, like a werewolf. I encountered one before, you know."

Amelia looked at Lina with awe. "Really? What happened?"

"Well, this was before I met up with Gourry even. I was hunting down a thief, when I set up camp for the night. I was enjoying a sweet baked potato," Lina drooled at the memory but continued on, "when a lost traveler approached me. He was raving about having been attacked, and wanted me to help him get back to the village. Something about the guy didn't add up though, so I ignored him."

"You ignored him when he needed help?"

"Calm down, Amelia, I'm not done yet."

"Oh, sorry."

"Anyway, so this guy keeps raving on when suddenly-"

"What? What happened?!" Amelia was on the edge of her seat!

"I ran out of fish!" Lina cried.

Gourry shot Lina a quizzical look. "Actually Lina, you dropped it. Here." Gourry reached under and revealed her quarry.

"Eep! Gourry! I can get it myself, you know! Some people. ANYway...so this guy keeps ranting, when suddenly he transformed into a huge werewolf!"

"What did you do?" Amelia hid her fear poorly.

"I crushed him with a rock, naturally." Lina tossed her hair. 

"That's it? That's not nearly as exciting as the time I fought some green wolf guy. Although how he was that way, or why I was fighting him, I don't remember." Gourry trailed off, lost in thought.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lina shook her head.

"Miss Lina, are you sure it's safe to be out here? What if-"

"A werewolf attacks? We'll be fine, Amelia. Most lycanthropes stay away from humans, especially if they know what's good for them!" Lina made a fist. "And besides, they mostly stay in the mountain ranges, and we're very far away from any mountains."

Lina turned to Gourry, who was still deep in thought. "Hey Gourry, toss some more wood in that fire! It's starting to get dark."

"Huh? Oh, right." Gourry did as he was told.

Amelia, meanwhile, began to fan herself. "Don't you think it's good enough as is? It's pretty warm out tonight."

"Hot? Not anymore than the past few nights. It feels a little cool to me, actually. Are you feeling all right, Amelia?" Lina replied. 

"Yes, I'm fine. I just need some fresh air." Amelia stood up.

"But we're surrounded by it." Gourry noted. "Oh, look Lina! You were right about the moon!"

Just then, Amelia doubled over in pain. Lina lept to her feet and ran to Amelia's side.

"What's the matter? Was it the fish?" Lina asked.

"It..burns!" Amelia cried out as if in severe pain. She clawed desperately at the ground as her whole body was enveloped in a burning sensation.

Lina and Gourry could only watch on as Amelia's body changed it's shape. Within seconds a werewolf lay where Amelia once was.

"Lina, I think you can rule out food poisoning." Gourry stated. 

"She's.." Lina gasped.

"Kind of short for a werewolf." Gourry finished.

The werewolf, hearing Lina and Gourry's voices, looked up. She clutched her head in pain, then dashed off into the woods.

"Amelia, no! Come back!" Lina chased after her, Gourry close behind.

Amelia glanced back at her pursuers with a look of fear, then finding herself trapped against a cliff-face, turned and gave out a snarl.

"Amelia, calm down! We need to get you help!" Lina cried.

Amelia again gripped her head, then let out a howl of rage and lept at Lina! Lina had no time to react, and found herself pinned under a large snarling wolf.

"Amelia, stop! It's me, Lina!" Lina struggled to keep from being bitten. "Gourry, she's lost her sense of reason! Help me!"

Gourry quickly came from behind the two, and in a quick motion, unsheathed his sword and whacked the hilt against Amelia's head. Amelia went limp, landing fully on Lina.

"Thanks a lot, Gourry." Lina pulled herself out from under Amelia's dead weight.

"Oh man, Phil's going to kill me if he sees Amelia like this! At times like this, there's only one thing to do!"

"Get her treatment?"

"Actually, I was opting more towards running away."

"But Lina, then he'd really have your head!"

"I know, I know! It's just that the treatment cost so much! Wait! Maybe I won't have to pay!" Lina searched around for Amelia's purse, finding it among Amelia's torn clothing. "Yes! Now let's see..." Lina looked in the purse. "I hate my life."

"What's wrong?"

"What kind of royalty only carries a measly five gold coins?!" 

"Amelia, apparently."

"I just knew all that treasure from those bandits was to good to be true!" Lina growled in frustration. "C'mon, Gourry. We should get going before she wakes up. There's a village near here."

"What about all our stuff?"

"We'll have to come back for it later, we don't have time right now."

Gourry sighed and picked up the unconscious werewolf.

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So why did I write this? Seriously, I play D&D a lot, and one time I was reading through the Monster Manual, and was looking all all of the different Lycanthropes. A while later I had a thought: what if you took a Were, but instead of curing them of the foreign animal part, cured them of their humanity? That's where this story comes in. (Also, I've been seeing a lot of Were stories for Pokémon, but none for Slayers, which should be obvious since there are Weres in the Slayers Universe!) Just a word of warning, this is going to be a Dark story, and some very unpleasant times are ahead for our group. (Also, Xellos is not in this, so those hoping to find him here should look elsewhere.) 


	2. The Good Doctor is OUT!

"Hello! Anybody home?" Lina called out.

She and Gourry had entered the local healer's shop, hoping that he was still awake.

A man carrying a small oil lamp walked into the entryway. "Yes, who is it? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry sir. We're having a bit of an emergency." Lina replied.

The healer lit more lamps in the room, effectively lighting it. He looked at the trio.

"Sorry, but I'm no vet. You'll have to take your dog elsewhere." 

"Dog?!" Lina grit her teeth. "But sir, you don't understand. My friend here was infected by a werewolf. We're hoping you can help her."

"Of course! Bring her this way." The healer led Lina and Gourry into his office, and indicated for Gourry to place Amelia in a chair. 

After Gourry had done so the healer began to bind Amelia to the chair with a rope.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lina questioned.

"Restraining her. I'd hate for her to come to until I was ready, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose..." Lina mumbled.

"Now then, before I begin... With the cost of time, labor, and supplies, the cost is going to be 450 gold."

"What?! That can't be right!" Lina gasped.

"I'm sorry Miss, but it is, and you'll have to pay before I can begin treatment. Clinical procedures, you see."

Lina grudgingly took out the amount and gave it to the healer. 

"Thank you! Now this is going to take some time, so you might want to do something else for a while. I hear the restaurant down the street is having an All-You-Can-Eat buffet tonight."

Both Lina and Gourry's eyes lit up.

"All right, food!" Lina glared at the healer. "Just don't pull any funny stuff, or I'll have to punish you. Come on, Gourry!"

"I'm way ahead of you, Lina!" Gourry raced out the door.

"Hey! Gourry! Come back here!" Lina chased after him.

The healer chuckled to himself. "Well, that was easy enough. Those men really did their homework. As for my patient..."

The healer took a short strong piece of rope and wrapped it around Amelia's muzzle. He then secured it behind her head. As he was working, Amelia groggily came to.

"Awake, are you? No matter. I'll have you fixed up in a moment." 

He walked over to a set of drawers, opened the bottom one, and after digging about for a moment, pulled out a vial.

"I have this made up special, just for you. I don't know who you are, but you definitely rubbed somebody the wrong way."

Amelia, still somewhat disoriented, looked at the stranger in fear.

"Now then, no reason to fear me -yet." And with that, he forced the vial into Amelia's mouth. He then forced her head back, making her swallow the contents.

Amelia tried to thrash about, but she could hardly move with the constraints. And then she was overtaken with pain again.

The healer smiled with glee. "My hypothesis was true! If you can remove the wolf from a Were, why not the man? ...or woman, in this case."

As the healer gloated, Amelia's body again went through a transformation, but instead of regaining her human form, she became a full wolf.

"Hmm, interesting how the eyes remained blue. I'll have to make note of that. Now then, time to instill some fear into you!"

He took out a dagger and proceeded to slash his clothing, nicking himself as well.

"Don't worry, you won't remember your life as a human after tonight!" The healer then slashed through Amelia's binds, freeing her from the chair. He then kicked at her, taking full advantage of her inability to move.

"Get up, you pathetic cur!"

Amelia slowly got to her four feet, and clumsily hobbled about, trying to dodge the crazed man's attacks.

"That's right, run from me!" He moved to a door and opened it, revealing the street outside.

Amelia saw her chance at freedom from the crazy, and lept for the door.

"Help! Someone help me! A wolf...attacked me!" The healer hollered out the door.

Fellow villagers, woken by the shouting, looked out to see their healer ragged and bleeding, and a wolf leaving the scene of the crime. Just as the healer had hoped, the villagers gave chase, throwing anything they could at the foul creature!

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"Did you hear? Some rabid wolf nearly killed Doctor Zucker!"

"What? Is he all right?"

"Barely. They've sent out a search party to kill the wolf! Come on!"

Lina looked up from her meal. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Hey Lina, wasn't that the name of the guy we left Amelia with?" 

Lina looked at Gourry in shock. "Come on, Gourry!"

Lina and Gourry ran from the restaurant and out into the chaos of the streets. Lina stopped the nearest villager.

"What happened? What's going on?"

"Some crazed wolf attacked Doctor Zucker. Sorry to run, but I'm going to be the one to kill it!" And with that, the villager dashed off.

Lina also dashed off, but to the building she had left Amelia in. 

"Please no, please no, please no!"

As Lina entered the building, she saw the good doctor, and what was left of his office. Lina ran to him.

"What happened?"

"Th-that beast attacked me! Why, I'm lucky to be alive, what with how she tore out of her binds!" The healer raved.

"This can't be happening! Please, somebody tell me this isn't happening!" Lina moaned.

"Hey Lina, look at this!" Gourry said.

"What, Gourry?"

"These ropes were cut, but not by any teeth or claws I know about. See how cleanly they were sliced?" Gourry held up some rope.

"Yes, it looks like a knife was used." Lina glared at the healer. "Something tells me you're lying."

"What! Preposterous! Why, the very idea..." The healer stammered. 

"Save it, old man. Either tell us the truth, or I'll make you tell it." Lina readied a Fire Ball in her hands.

The healer's persona totally changed. "I'm sorry! They put me up to it! I didn't want to do it, but they gave me so much money I couldn't refuse!"

"Is that so? Who put you up to this?"

"Two men, but they were working for somebody else! I'm sorry, but that's all I know! Please, don't hurt me!" The healer wailed.

"All right, but where's my money?" Lina asked.

"Here, it's right here!" The healer removed his money pouch and gave it to Lina.

"And where's the money you were bribed with?"

"You can't have that! It's mine!"

"Considering what you've done to my friend, consider losing it over losing your life. Now where is it?!"

The healer pointed frantically to a bookcase. "It's up there! Please don't hurt me!"

"Gourry, get the bag." Lina ordered.

"Got it." Gourry reached up and took to bulging sack of coins. 

Lina took the money from Gourry, then glared at the healer. "You're pathetic. " She then turned back to Gourry. "Let's get out of here before the villagers succeed!"

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As Lina and Gourry dashed back into the forest, two men approached the healer.

"You weren't supposed to reveal anything, old man. Now we'll deal with you my way!"

An agonized scream rang out into the night air, shortly followed by an explosion.

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"I am going to be so dead! Oh why did this have to happen?" Lina yelled in frustration.

"Well, I heard somebody talking about how despised wolves are in that village, and didn't you see all of the trophies in the restaurant?" Gourry replied.

"No Gourry, I was too busy eating. Why didn't you say anything?" 

"It didn't seem important at the time."

Lina shot Gourry a dirty look. "So are we going the right way, oh Master Tracker?"

"Well, those are wolf tracks, and considering all of the people who came through here earlier, I'd have to say yes."

Lina and Gourry continued running through the forest, until Lina threw up her arms in exasperation.

"This is taking too long! C'mere, Gourry!" Lina grabbed onto Gourry's arm. 

"Raywing!" Lina shouted, then took to the air.

Gourry was less than happy with the situation. "Ah! Lina, what was wrong with running? We can't follow the trail from up here!"

"We don't have to. Look." Lina pointed near the horizon.

"Those villagers sure don't give up. What are we going to do, Lina?"

"For now, hope that they don't get to Amelia."

"Lina, what if they do get to her before us?"

"I'd rather not think about it." _(Amelia, don't get yourself killed!)_

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Amelia was confused. Things had been going well enough earlier, but then something happened. The more she thought of it, the less she could remember. There had been two people, friends if her failing memory was correct, but she couldn't recall who they were, or where they were now. The only constant at this point was the mob chasing after her, but try as she might, she was having difficulty running. 

The running itself wasn't so bad, it just felt wrong. She had tried to get up on her hind legs, but then she would fall, and that only brought the mob closer. So she ran on four legs as best as she could, despite how wrong it felt.

She continued running, for how long she couldn't tell. Eventually her legs began to tire, until finally her legs collapsed out from under her, sending her sprawling to the forest floor! She cringed, waiting for the mob to overtake her. 

....silence. The forest was completely silent. Not a human voice could be heard, nor any torch lights seen.

Exhaustion finally caught up with her, and Amelia fell into a deep sleep.

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"I think we're getting close, Lina. These tracks are fresh."

"Good, I'm about ready to drop."

Amelia's ears perked up, bringing her to full alert. They were still after her! She got up on her tired legs and continued her mad dash into the forest.

A moment later Lina and Gourry came into the small clearing.

"Look there! It looks like we just missed her." Gourry pointed to a small area of flattened grass.

"What, she was sleeping this whole time?"

"Uh...yes?"

"That's it! I am too tired to take another step!" Lina collapsed onto the ground.

"What, you're going to sleep right on the ground?" Gourry asked. 

"Unless you feel like getting all of our gear that we left behind, this place looks as good as a large feather bed to me right now." Lina yawned. "So tired..." Lina curled up in her cape and went to sleep.

"Oh, okay." Gourry shrugged, then propped himself against a tree. He was snoring softly within minutes.

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Notes for this chapter? How about the fact that I am lousy at coming up with new names! Zucker is actually German for sugar (Zoo-ker), and while the doctor sure didn't have a sweet disposition, I always thought Zucker sounded cool. (And Umgebung is too long!) ^_- Sure he must have been nice enough to have such respect from the villagers, but even those with the best intentions can be swayed, as we saw.

Also, for any that might be suspicious, wolves are actually NOT a favorite animal of mine. (I'm partial to felines, cougars especially.) It just fit for this idea, so I ran with it. I'm hoping that I can finally put all those years of reading about various animals to good use. (If not, I'm having fun trying, anyway!)


	3. So much for good impressions!

Amelia had been traveling for days, but she knew she couldn't hold out much longer. She hadn't eaten anything sustaining in days, as the rope binding her mouth prevented her from opening it. She had really only managed to drink a bit of water, and only when she found a puddle or small creek. She was beginning to get delirious with hunger.

As she walked ever onward, a wonderful scent wafted through the forest air. Whatever it was, it was close, so Amelia followed the scent. She came to a clearing inthe trees; in the clearing was a campfire with a pot over it. That must be where the sensational smell is coming from! Just as Amelia made to move into the clearing, another scent came to her.

Man.

Normally she would have moved on, but at this point she was too starved to care! Amelia stepped into the clearing.

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Zelgadis Greywords was down in the dumps. As of late he had found no new information on potential cures, nor was he having any luck finding any jobs whatsoever to continue funding his search.

On days like this Zelgadis just wanted to get away from everything, and that's exactly what he was doing. He stirred his small pot of soup (the last of his provisions), until he heard a slight rustle in the bushes and looked up.

A wolf. Such a sighting was rare enough, but this wolf hadn't stopped when it saw him. Oh no, it kept on approaching, unnerving Zelgadis with it's blue eyes staring right at him. Zelgadis could stand it no longer so he stood and tried to shoo the wolf away.

The wolf kept coming.

By now it was only three feet away from Zelgadis, and it was going for the soup! This enraged Zelgadis. No way was he going to let a wolf eat his last decent meal! Zelgadis whipped out his sword, slashing at the wolf's face. Zelgadis knew by the loud yelping that he had made contact. The wolf fled instantly.

"Good." Zelgadis smirked.

At least he could still fend off the local wildlife. Zelgadis decided it was best to eat his meager meal before something else came looking for it. He had just taken his first spoonful when another racket came from the surrounding forest.

"Not again. What is wrong with this forest?" Zelgadis stood again, preparing to make quick work of his newest foe.

"Come on, Gourry, it sounds like she ran into some trouble!" Lina came crashing through the bushes.

"What? Lina? And Gourry?" Zelgadis gaped.

"Mm?" Lina looked up to see a familiar face. "Zelgadis! What are you doing out here?"

"I should be asking the same of you?"

Gourry came crashing out of the bushes. "Oh, hi Zelgadis! You didn't see a wolf, did you?"

"A wolf? Yes, actually. Just a moment ago."

"Argh!! We missed her again! Why didn't you stop her?!" Lina grabbed Zelgadis by the scruff of his shirt.

"Erk! Lina! How - was I - supp-osed to know - you were - af-ter her?" Zelgadis choked.

Lina dropped Zelgadis. "I wish this nightmare would end already!"

"Lina, why are you chasing a wolf? That seems rather the unusual job, even for you." Zelgadis frowned.

"Even I know that one! We're chasing after Amelia." Gourry smiled. 

Zelgadis could only stare in shock.

"Believe me, Zelgadis, you don't want to know. All I know is Amelia has somebody out to get her. So you saw her?" Lina asked.

"That was Amelia? Amelia is a...a wolf?" Zelgadis gaped.

"Yes Zelgadis, try to stay with me here. What happened, anyway? We heard something." Lina said.

"...I attacked her."

"You did what?!?" Lina lept at Zelgadis, putting him in a headlock. "After all we went through to make sure nothing else happens, you attacked her?!?"

"C-can't breathe!"

"Hey Lina, calm down. It's not like Amelia had a name tag on, or anything." Gourry attempted to calm the raging sorceress.

"If anything happens to her I'm sicing Phil on you!" And with that Lina released Zelgadis,

Zelgadis spent a moment regaining his breath before speaking again. "If that was Amelia, then why aren't you going after her?" 

"Yum, good soup!"

"You can say that again!"

"Hey, that was mine!" Zelgadis watched the two consume his food. 

"Consider it payback for chasing Amelia off like that. Now it's going to take even longer to find her!" Lina looked up at the setting sun. "And there goes our daylight. We'd be better off to camp here and start again tomorrow."

Zelgadis moved to his things and began to pack up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lina demanded.

"To tell you the truth Lina, I'd rather not get involved with you again. Nothing personal, but I'd prefer to stay out of trouble this time." Zelgadis replied.

"Then you should have thought twice about attacking Amelia. Besides, we need a decent cook. I for one have had it with fish!" 

"What if I said no?"

"I've got a Dragon Slave with your name on it."

Zelgadis dropped his things, then sat cross-legged near the fire, arms crossed in irritation.

"It's not so bad, Zelgadis." Gourry said.

"Easy for you to say. Let's just get this over with as soon as possible." Zelgadis huffed.

"Quiet over there! Some of us would like to get some sleep!" Lina growled.

Gourry was instantly quiet, leaving Zelgadis to stare at the stars. Off in the distance a lone wolf howled a mournful cry. Zelgadis had troubled sleep for the rest of the night.

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Amelia staggered on, being in no better shape from her encounter with Zelgadis. The only good gained from it was that Zelgadis' attack had sliced through the rope, freeing Amelia's jaw. Not that she had escaped unscathed. Even now her jaw ached with pain. She had no idea how deep the cut was, only that it had hurt when she licked it.

Suddenly Amelia's feet got wet. In her state she hadn't noticed the river she now stood in. Nor did she care! She was so overjoyed to find water that she even ignored the pain to lap some up. Content at last, she curled up on the bank of the river and fell asleep.

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The sun was just coming over the horizon when Amelia woke up. She got up and stretched, then filled herself up on river water again. As she was drinking, she noticed her reflection: the image of a dark brown wolf with bright blue eyes stared back at her. Her gut instinct told her this image was terribly wrong, but she had no idea why. She then continued her journey, not sure what she was journeying for, only knowing that she had to escape her pursuers.

Many hours later Amelia came across a scent that made her senses go wild! Some animal was near, although she had no idea what. So she trailed the scent until it led her to a clearing. In it she saw what she had been trailing: another wolf.

Amelia was very unsure of what to do so she stayed out of sight. An easy task since the other wolf was moving away from her. Not wanting to be left behind, Amelia trailed after the wolf. It must have been going back to it's pack because soon Amelia heard other wolves, then she saw them before her.

Something about the creatures intrigued her! They looked just like she did, and yet she could not understand them. Determined to learn, Amelia stayed hidden in the bushes. Well out of range of the pack, but close enough to study them. And so she watched, listened, and learned.

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"If I had known we were going this far north, I would have brought a map." Lina exclaimed.

Zelgadis gave Lina a startled look. "You mean you don't carry one?"

"Nope, never had the need. I just let the road lead me where it's going! Although for special trips I usually ask the locals for directions."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this." Zelgadis sighed.

"So Lina, where are we going?" Gourry asked.

"Wherever this trail takes us. We haven't found any reasons not to," Lina glared at Zelgadis, "so we'll keep going."

"It's getting dark though, Lina. Don't you think we should stop?" Gourry asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I just hope we come across a town or even a village soon. I'm tired of camping out! Ooh, when I finally get my hands on Amelia..."

"You'll what?" Zelgadis gave Lina a look.

"Make her pay Gourry's weight in gold, of course! Or even better, yours! Then I'll never have to work again. But wait! We're all involved in this, so maybe if we combine all three..." Lina gave an evil grin.

"She scares me when she gets like that." Gourry whispered to Zelgadis.

"Now you know why I don't stay with you two more often." Zelgadis replied.

"Hey, what are you two saying about me? Now less talking and more work! I want to eat some time before dawn if that's all right with you two."

Zelgadis and Gourry glanced at each other, trying not to laugh, before dashing off to work.

"Men. Why do I put up with them?" Lina removed a small bundle from her pack. "At least we happened across you, my lovely tidbit. I can't wait to have rabbit stew!" Lina drooled. "Hey Zel, hurry up with that fire and get cooking!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The pack was in an uproar. Humans had been seen nearby, and what was worse, they were preying off of an already dwindling supply of food. The leader would have none of this! Amelia couldn't quite understand, but the leader intended to raid the human's camp, killing the intruders if need be. Some of the pack weren't quite so eager about this, but the leader would have none of it. The humans had to be kept away at all costs! Finally the pack moved out, Amelia not far behind.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It was well past sunset when Lina's prized dinner was ready. Zelgadis wasn't sure if it was ready or not, but Lina and Gourry had been ready to eat as soon as Zelgadis had everything in the pot. To hold those two off any longer would be suicide!

Lina happily ladled some stew into a makeshift bowl. "Nothing like life on the road to boost your appetite!"

"Not that you need it."

"If it weren't for this delicious food, you'd be toast, Gourry." 

Zelgadis sat back and watched the two go at it. There were just some things about Lina and Gourry that he'd never understand. As he thought, a slight noise caught his attention.

"Did you hear that?" Zelgadis asked.

"Hear what?" Lina asked back.

Just then eight wolves burst into the camp! They lunged at the three diners, who were quick to get out of the way.

"What is this?" Lina demanded.

Gourry didn't respond, as he was busy fending off the wolves as he went for his sword.

"Flare Arrow!" Lina began to attack with her tamer spells.

Zelgadis was doing fairly well himself, slashing into his attackers with his sword.

While everyone was engaged in battle, Amelia crept into the campsite. She found Lina's discarded stew and began to eat it. This did not go unnoticed.

"Why, you little... Burst Rondo!" Lina sent her spell into the midst of the wolf pack. Lina took a closer look at her stew thief. "Wait a sec... Gourry, get that one!"

"Right!" Gourry tackled Amelia.

The remainder of the pack quickly fled, leaving the campsite in disrepair.

Lina growled in frustration. "Those pests! Oh, and Gourry, that's not quite what I had in mind."

Gourry got off of the flattened wolf. "Sorry Lina, but it seemed like the best option at the time."

"Why did you go after that one, anyway?" Zelgadis asked.

Lina knelt down by the knocked out wolf and took out a rope. She then tied and end around the wolf's neck, also being sure to loop a part around the muzzle.

"Because, if I'm right, then our search is over."

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Nothing much to add here, other than I'm glad to finally include Zelgadis in on this crazy story. (Don't think he gets off easy, either!)


	4. Just get on with it!

"So now what do we do?"

"What do you mean "What do we do?" We've got to confirm that this is really Amelia, then figure out a way to undo what that kooky doctor did."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Hey, you're the quester for cures. Surely you've come across something?"

"No, actually. Nor have I ever looked for such a thing. Who would ever cure a Were of their humanity?"

"Who indeed."

"Hey look, she's waking up."

"It's about time. Next time you tackle somebody like that, do it without your breastplate, Gourry."

"I said I was sorry."

"Shh! You'll scare her."

Amelia awoke to the sound of human voices, but she had no way to know what they were talking about. As she opened her eyes she saw three shapes hover over her, and instantly panicked. Her way to freedom was abruptly halted by a rope around her neck. Unsure of the humans' motives, and fearful of the restraint, she began to pull in every direction to get away.

"Whoa, calm down! We're not going to hurt you, Amelia!" Lina tried her best to sound non-threatening. A difficult thing to do when being dragged. "Hey, who's idea was it for me to hold the rope?"

"Your's actually, Lina." Gourry replied.

"Why do I even ask? Will one of you come here? Ack! Hey, would you cut it out, Amelia? Gourry, hold the rope, will ya?"

"No problem, Lina." Gourry grabbed onto the rope, leaving Lina's slack.

"This will work for the moment but...hey, Zelgadis, come stand over here." Lina said.

"What is it, Lina?" Zelgadis walked to Lina.

Lina began looping her end of the rope around Zelgadis' waist. 

"What are you doing?!" Zelgadis gasped.

"Just taking advantage of the situation." Lina tied the rope, making sure the knot would hold. "All right Gourry, you can let go now."

Amelia continued tugging as before, only now she made no progress. 

"You see? You make an excellent weight, Zel." Lina smirked.

"Do you expect me to put up with this all night?" Zelgadis grumbled.

"Better you than Gourry and me. Besides, with you there, even if she keeps that up all night, I doubt she'll move you more than a foot."

"That's a comforting thought."

"I knew you'd like it." Lina winked. "Now let's get some sleep." 

"I thought you were going to make sure that was Amelia?" Gourry pondered.

"I would, but she's too freaked out right now. Besides, my woman's intuition thinks so, and it's never steered me wrong."

"Says you."

Lina tossed a discarded spoon at Zelgadis. "Keep that up and I'll have a Fire Ball waiting for you. Now get some sleep."

"Easy for you to say." Zelgadis sat on the ground, unable to lie down with Amelia still trying to get away. Zelgadis did his best to ignore it.

Eventually Amelia got tired, so she lay down, still facing the others. She dozed sightly, on the alert all night for anything the humans might do.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The group awoke early the next morning and set off for the nearest town.

"If I have to sleep on the ground again, I may turn violent." Lina grumbled.

"But Lina, I thought you didn't care?" Gourry responded.

"I don't, but things change when I wake up covered in dew."

"You have a point."

Lina looked over her shoulder, "Hey Zel, are you coming, or what?" 

"Why don't you do this?" Zelgadis was currently dragging a very unwilling wolf down the road. "She certainly has Amelia's stubbornness." he complained.

Lina snickered at Zelgadis' predicament. "Did I hear that right? You said my intuition was correct?"

"I said nothing of the sort."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, just keep walking. She'll follow you eventually." 

"Yes, but by her will, or mine?" Zelgadis muttered.

Lina, of course, was right, give or take a few hours. Amelia did eventually tire of straining to get away, and since her captors had made no move to harm her (yet), she cautiously trailed behind Zelgadis. It was a good thing too, as they reached a town soon after. Lina being Lina, she made her first stop at a quaint restaurant.

"Lina, are you sure it's a good idea to take her inside?" Gourry asked.

"Relax. She'll have to cope with it sooner or later. I prefer sooner."

Zelgadis turned to Gourry. "Famous last words." They all proceeded inside and seated themselves.

If Amelia had been scared before, she was terrified now! There were people everywhere, and no way to escape! Still leery of Zelgadis and Gourry, Amelia dove under Lina's seat. 

"Food! Food! Delicious food!: Lina sang happily to herself.

"We haven't even ordered yet, Lina." Gourry stated.

Lina was too far gone to hear him. 

Shortly after a waiter came along and took their orders. Once the food came along they commenced eating. When the meal was all but gone Lina cleared her throat.

"Now that that's been taken care of, I need you two to do some errands."

"All right, what do you need?" Gourry asked.

"We need some basic gear to stay out in the wilderness, for starters. Think you can handle that?" Lina replied.

"Yup!" Gourry smiled.

"Wait Lina, why aren't you going to get what you need?" Zelgadis wondered.

"We can't traumatize Amelia too much in one night." Lina said. 

"If that even is Amelia." Zelgadis muttered.

Lina glared at Zelgadis. "Anyway, it's obvious she trusts me the most, so I'm going to go get us a room for the night."

"How are you going to afford everything, Lina?" Zelgadis asked. 

"I always have some spare coins on hand, just in case. I'll be expecting some compensation from Phil when this is all over! Keep track of how much you spend, okay Gourry?"

"You bet! Let's go, Zelgadis."

Zelgadis got up and followed Gourry out of the restaurant. "Shopping for Lina. This can't be good." Zelgadis sighed.

Lina smiled then looked under her seat. "Are you ready to go?" 

Amelia whimpered in response.

"Okay, come on." Lina tugged on her makeshift leash to drag Amelia out from under the chair, then dragged her back out into the street. 

"Now this isn't so bad. Let's see... Ah-hah! There we go! C'mon, Amelia." 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After much debate with the innkeeper (he wasn't too keen on letting a wild animal into his inn), Lina finally got a room. Once inside, she closed the door. Frightened by the sudden confinement, Amelia pawed at the door.

"Oh no you don't!" Lina pulled Amelia away from the door, tying the leash to the bed. "Now then, I saved a little something for you, but you have to promise to behave." Lina revealed a drumstick she had swiped from her meal earlier.

Amelia was instantly silent, watching the food.

"Good girl!" Lina cheered. "Now then, this will only take a second." Lina knelt down to loosen the rope around Amelia's muzzle. "All right, there you go." Lina placed the food on the floor.

Amelia looked eager to eat the drumstick, but then she stopped and glanced at Lina.

"What? What's wrong?"

Amelia continued to stay motionless, obviously wanting the food, but making no move for it.

"Don't even tell me you aren't hungry." Lina stepped toward Amelia.

Amelia instantly stepped back.

Lina stopped, then backed up a few paces, watching to see what Amelia would do.

Amelia in turn moved forward again, toward the food. She looked down at it, but again glanced up at Lina.

"It's all right, I'm not going to take it from you. Wait!" Lina moved farther away, then turned her back to Amelia, acting indifferent.

Amelia watched her a moment, then seeing no further response from Lina, dove at the drumstick.

Lina glanced over her shoulder. "Ah, so that's what it was all about."

After Amelia had finished off the drumstick, Lina took away the bone, then sat on the bed. "So Amelia, do you understand me yet? I don't mean you any harm. We're going to find a way to help you, even if we have to go up against the people who did this to you!"

Amelia cocked her ears in Lina's direction.

"At least I know you're listening to me."

Amelia suddenly got up and hid under the vanity near Lina's bed. 

"Hey, where do you...?" Lina was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Lina got up and opened the door, revealing Gourry and Zelgadis.

Gourry walked into the room. "We got the stuff, Lina."

Lina looked about. "And where is it now?"

"Oh, we left it in our room. We just came to let you know that if you need anything, we're just a few doors down." Gourry replied.

"Are you sure this is wise, Lina?" Zelgadis asked.

"Stop whining! Everything is just fine. Amelia and I were getting along quite well until she heard you coming."

"Even so..." Gourry trailed off.

"Gourry, I'll yell if I need anything." Lina smiled at Gourry. 

Gourry smiled back. "All right, then good night, Lina."

"Good night. Oh! And promise me you won't sleep outside of my door again." Lina said.

"We're going." Zelgadis replied. 

Lina laughed, then closed the door after the two men. She then got herself ready for bed.

"All right, Amelia, you heard them. No funny stuff."

Amelia was already curled up, fast asleep, under the vanity.

"Good. I'm glad we were able to come to this understanding." Lina then crawled into her bed and went to sleep.

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I bet you were expecting an update sooner than this, weren't you? Sadly, my schedule doesn't permit it (I work most of the week), but I'll definitely have at least one new chapter up each week. (Until I run out of what I've already written up! Hopefully I'll be inspired to write more soon.) 


	5. Much pondering happens

"Lina! Are you all right in there?"

"Lina, why aren't you answering?! I don't like this."

Amelia woke up to loud knocking and voices behind the door. She got up, yawned, then cringed in pain. Her jaw was throbbing with pain. The pounding on the door only seemed to make it feel worse. There had to be a way to stop it...

Amelia looked around, noticing that one of her captors, specifically the one who had fed her, was still fast asleep. Surely she could stop that horrible racket! Amelia quietly ambled over to the bed, then nudged Lina's cheek with her nose. 

Lina had been sleeping pleasantly, when suddenly something cold and wet touched her. Alarmed by the sudden chill, Lina let out a small shriek.

Lina's sudden outburst in turn startled Amelia, and the wolf dove back under the vanity. Just then, Gourry and Zelgadis burst through the door.

"Lina, what happened?" Gourry gasped. "Lina, you're bleeding!" 

"I knew we shouldn't have left you alone." Zelgadis scolded. 

Lina was very awake at this point, and startled by Gourry's words. She felt a wet spot on her cheek so put her hand to it, then looked at her hand. Sure enough, a small trickle of blood was there.

"I...but how?" Lina gasped.

"Lina, did that wolf attack you?" Zelgadis asked.

Lina looked down to her pillow, not seeing any blood. Her eyes then trailed across the floor, to the cowering creature under her vanity. Sure enough, Lina saw a small puddle of blood.

"Oh no..." Lina got out of the bed and kneeled down in front of the vanity. "Amelia, come here."

Amelia turned and looked back at Lina, but remained under the vanity. Despite being in the shadows, Lina could tell that the rope around Amelia's muzzle was soaked with blood.

Lina turned her head. "Zelgadis, you said you attacked Amelia, right?"

"I attacked a wolf, yes." Zelgadis responded.

"How badly?" Lina pressed.

"It couldn't have been too bad."

Lina coaxed Amelia out from under the vanity. "You call this 'not too bad'? There's a gash here at least half an inch deep! Just what were you thinking?!?"

"That I didn't want to be attacked by a wolf. What's your point? You still don't have proof that that's even Amelia." Zelgadis crossed his arms in disdain.

"Actually, you just proved it. We were following Amelia's tracks, and they led us straight to you!" Lina shot back.

Zelgadis was dumbfounded.

"I thought that might convince you. You're such a jerk, Zel! It's no wonder she's been terrified to be near you!" Lina turned back to Amelia, who was cowering with fright. "Now come here, and let me take care of that for you." Lina made to untie the rope.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Lina." Gourry said.

"Gourry's right. Amelia or not, she might bite you." Zelgadis agreed.

"Okay Zel, then how about you fix this? You did cause it, after all." Lina stood up.

"You don't have to keep rubbing it in." Zelgadis muttered. He knelt down near Amelia, who in turn leaned as far away from him as possible. Zelgadis hesitated. "It's okay, A-Amelia. I'm not going to hurt you." Zelgadis reached over and loosened the rope, then removed it entirely. Zelgadis then cast Recovery, until the wound was closed completely.

Amelia looked up in amazement. The very same man who had hurt her had just made the pain go away completely! Maybe these humans weren't so bad, after all.

Zelgadis stood back up, only to receive a hard slap on the back from Lina.

"Way to go! I bet that'll help patch things up between you two, and in more ways than one." Lina snickered. "Now come here, Amelia. You're safe with us." Lina tugged gently on the leash.

Amelia cautiously came completely out from her hiding place, observing the humans before her. The female seemed to be the one in charge.

_'She must be the Leader.'_ Amelia thought.

Amelia rolled onto her back, exposing her stomach.

"Whoa, what's she doing?" Lina asked.

"She's showing that she knows you're the dominant one, or leader of the pack." Zelgadis replied.

"What? Where'd you get that, Zelgadis?" Lina replied.

Zelgadis shrugged. "I used to do a lot of reading when I was young."

"She sure looks cute!" Lina knelt down and rubbed Amelia's exposed tummy.

Amelia wasn't sure how to react. At first she thought 'Leader' was attacking her, but then she realized how good it felt! She went limp with ecstasy.

"Stop it, you're going to domesticate her!" Zelgadis scolded.

Lina shot Zelgadis a strange look. "She isn't supposed to be wild in the first place."

"Hey Lina, shouldn't we get going soon?" Gourry asked.

Lina suddenly realized something, and looked at her clothing. Sure enough, she was still in her pajamas. She turned to eye Gourry and Zelgadis, who were already in their traveling clothes.

"How about you give me some privacy first?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

A little later Lina came down into the main room of the inn, Amelia staying close to her. Gourry and Zelgadis were already there, and waiting.

"You all ready?" Lina asked.

"Of course!" Gourry smiled.

"Just where do you plan on going, anyway, Lina?" Zelgadis asked. 

"That should be obvious. To the nearest restaurant, of course!" Lina grinned.

"Why do I even bother?" Zelgadis muttered. "I meant, how do you intend to reverse what's been done to Amelia?"

"I really have no idea. I'm sure we'll find something eventually." Lina beamed. "In any case, I'm starved!"

Lina and Co. left the inn, making their way down the street to the nearest restaurant. Once Lina found it to her liking, they went in and sat down at a table. (Amelia chose to instead hide under Lina's seat again.) 

Zelgadis looked down at her. "I'm still not convinced that's Amelia. She never acted so shy before."

"Yeah, it's almost like she doesn't know who she is." Gourry replied.

"Hmm... Well, that old guy did say he was paid off to do something. We can already see what that was, but what if he drugged her as well?" Lina pondered.

"What, drugged her to make her lose her memory?" Gourry's voice quavered.

"It is a possibility." Zelgadis responded.

Lina's arm suddenly shot up, flagging down a passing waiter. "Ooh, waiter! I'll have the 'A' meal! Oh, and a bowl of soup on the side." 

"I'll have the 'B' meal, double portions." Gourry continued.

Zelgadis slumped in his seat. You just couldn't hold a decent conversation when food was involved.

The waiter turned to Zelgadis. "And you, sir?"

"I'll also have the 'B' meal, and some tea." Zelgadis replied. 

The waiter walked off to relay the orders.

"So anyway, it's a possibility that Amelia was also drugged to forget. But why..?" Lina continued with the previous conversation. 

"Monsters, corrupt royalty, pure coincidence? You name it." Zelgadis replied.

"We'll have to listen for any news from Seyruun. I don't know if we should go directly there, especially if whoever we're dealing with means Amelia harm." Lina said.

"They sure have a weird way of doing it." Gourry frowned.

"I hate trying to figure things out on an empty stomach. Where's that..Oh!" Lina grinned.

Just then the waiter came back, divvied out the food, then left. Lina and Gourry instantly dug in. At one point Gourry made an attempt for the soup, receiving a smack from Lina.

"That isn't for you!" Lina snapped.

"Well, you weren't eating it." Gourry sulked.

"That's because it isn't for me, either." Lina picked up the bowl of soup and placed it on the floor. "Amelia may have forgotten everything, but she still knows what food is.: Lina winked.

Sure enough, Amelia was quick to lap up the soup.

"Lina willingly giving up food? I thought I wasn't dreaming any more." Zelgadis smirked.

"You make me sound like some monster! I'm not about to let her -Gourry, that's mine!" 

Lina and Gourry resumed their feasting, much to Zelgadis' chagrin. 

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Finally, another chapter comes to a close! I know this may seem a bit slow to get going, but much like any good work of art, it has to be fleshed out and well-developed to be any good. (So there! ...sorry, I just always have people criticizing my drawings. "That doesn't look like a ____." "Hey, I'm not done yet!") And yes, I do have the ending planned out. It just might take a while to get there... (It's not like the gang has any mode of transportation, other than their own feet to speed up traveling. Blah!)

Also, the 'A' 'B', and unmentioned 'C' meals came from the Slayers Royal video game (for Sega Saturn, or Playstation). You constantly go to restaurants, thus opening up more discussion for the group (much of it going over my head, not being fluent in Japanese), some of which being the group ordering their food. It never actually says what it is they're ordering exactly, which is just fine with me! (It's bad enough that Lina and Gourry need to eat constantly, but to have to come up with all of the types of food they're eating? No way!) ^_-


	6. Never go shopping with Lina

"So why am I walking her again? It's obvious she trusts you more, Lina." Zelgadis grumbled.

"We already went over this. I don't want to get bitten, and you don't even have to worry about that. Also, you need some bonding time." Lina laughed.

"Why do I always get involved?" Zelgadis spied Amelia glancing at him. "You sure are quiet. Whatever happened to you being talkative?" 

Amelia whined quietly, then turned away and kept walking.

"Hey, and no teasing!" Lina yelled.

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"We are dead. We are so dead! She wasn't supposed to survive! Those stupid meddling people! Now what do we do?"

"Simple. Now we do it my way."

"And what do you intend to do?"

"See that overlook there? Right over the river? They'll surely stop there for a breather, then I'll take care of them."

"You better. We can't keep following them like this, or eventually the boss will know we failed.

"Shh! They're coming!"

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"Ugh. What is with this heat?! That's it, we're taking a break." Lina announced.

Lina sat down in the middle of the path. Amelia however. had different plans. Something was tickling her senses, so she strained against the rope to find out what it was.

"Lina. she's not going to listen." Zelgadis said as he tried to keep Amelia at bay.

"Just humor her. She can't get far with you holding the rope anyway." Lina replied.

Zelgadis grudgingly let himself be led to a nearby overlook. He casually glanced around while Amelia continued searching along the edge. "Go over, and Lina will have your head."

No sooner had Zelgadis spoken, that the ground under his feet gave way, sending him plummeting to the bottom of the river. As soon as she felt the ground move, Amelia had been quick to leap to safety. Finding herself freed, her first impulse was to run away. Something about the situation bothered her though. She realized that Loner (her name for Zelgadis) was nowhere to be seen. Amelia barked out as she glanced over the edge, then seeing where he had fallen, plunged into the river.

"Whoa, what happened?" Lina ran up to the cliff's edge.

"Lina! Look there!" Gourry pointed to two fleeing figures down below.

"This just gets more interesting. Ray Wing!" Lina grabbed Gourry and gave chase.

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Zelgadis was in serious trouble. It was bad enough that he had fallen, but now he was underwater, and the current was too swift for him to get out. He struggled about for a moment before he lost consciousness...

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Amelia swam about in the water frantic to find Loner. She continued to dive under to look, but to no avail. Just as she was about to give up, something soft grazed her leg. She dove down and clamped her teeth around it, then began the struggle of her life! 

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"Get back here!" Lina chased after a lone figure, Gourry not far behind. "That does it. Shadow Snap!" Lina flung her dagger at the fleeing man's shadow, instantly halting him. "Ha! No one gets away from Lina Inverse! Now who are you, and what do you want?"

"That's none of your business." The man sneered.

"Oh, is that so? Will this help?" Lina readied a Fire Ball.

"Do your worse! I've faced worse than that."

Lina was amazed. Either the guy was a loony or...of course! She noticed his clothing looked like that of a sorcerer. In that case... 

"Hey Gourry, take care of this guy."

"Right!" Gourry drew his sword.

"Wait! Let's not get hasty!"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Lina asked.

"I'll talk! Just don't hurt me!"

"That's better. At ease, Gourry. So just what are you doing here?" 

"I was hired to...assassinate the princess."

"Is that so? You sure have a strange way of doing it." Lina replied.

"It was the boss' idea! He wanted to make sure that nothing could be traced back to him! ...not that you can stop him now." The man chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Lina asked.

"Surely she's drowned by now, especially with no one to help her." The man grinned evilly.

"What about Zelga...oh!" Gourry gasped.

"Oh no! Zelgadis will be no help at all! Don't think you're getting away with anything!" Lina yelled angrily.

Lina cast a sleep spell on the man, then picked her dagger up from off of the ground. She and Gourry then raced back from where they had come.

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Amelia had finally managed to reach the riverbank, but then got stuck. Loner was too heavy! Not about to give up, she began to give quick strong tugs on Loner's cape. The cape tore somewhat, but she was finally able to pull him out of the water. Only problem now was that he wasn't breathing. Unsure of what else to do, Amelia frantically licked his face.

_"Please no, you can't die!"_ Amelia thought. 

Suddenly Zelgadis' body convulsed as he erupted into a coughing fit. This startled Amelia at first, but she was overjoyed to see him breathing again.

"Zelgadis! Amelia!"

In a daze, Zelgadis slowly shook his head from side to side as he opened his eyes. Amelia stared straight back at him.

"Zelgadis!" Lina and Gourry finally made it to his side.

"Zelgadis, are you all right?" Gourry asked.

"What happened?" Zelgadis was still in a daze.

"Some jerk tried to kill Amelia, but it looks like you got in the way." Lina answered.

Zelgadis jerked up. "The leash! I accidentally let it go when I fell!"

"Relax Zel, Amelia's right here." Lina said.

"But how?"

"Just look at yourself. She obviously was the one to pull you out of the river." Lina pointed to his torn cape.

Zelgadis looked to his side. Sure enough, Amelia was sitting there of her own free will. She looked worriedly at him.

"Uh, thank you, Amelia." Zelgadis cautiously patted her on the head.

Amelia, overjoyed to see Zelgadis was all right, rushed up to him, nuzzling him excitedly.

"Careful Zel, she doesn't have any human inhibition to hold her back now." Lina teased.

"You don't suppose she's regained her memories, do you?" Gourry pondered.

Lina turned to Amelia. "Hey Amelia, do you know who I am?"

Amelia just cocked her head and gave Lina a confused look.

"Doesn't look like it. I guess when she saw Zelgadis fall something triggered in her memory." Lina continued.

"Meaning?" Zelgadis asked.

"That you've got yourself another shadow." Lina winked.

Sure enough, when Zelgadis stood up, Amelia bounded to his side, leaping about happily.

"Oh great." Zelgadis groaned.

"Relax Zel, I think it's kind of cute. Besides, if she remembered how much she cares about you, maybe she'll regain more of her memories soon." Lina said.

"I hope so." Zelgadis took the end of the rope, reigning in the happy wolf to his side. "I just hope it's very soon." 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"How long is she going to take? It's been well over an hour." Gourry yawned.

Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia were all sitting near a fountain, positioned in the center of the small town they were passing through. Or at least HAD, then Lina changed plans...

"Well, she did say she needed to stock up on a few things." Zelgadis replied boredly. He looked down to Amelia, who had fallen asleep a while ago.

Gourry continued to watch the townsfolk passing by. More than one shot a wary glance at the sleeping wolf. "She'd better hurry, I think we're making people nervous."

Zelgadis sighed. "Welcome to my life." Having said such, Zelgadis pulled his hood down lower.

"I didn't mean you. I don't think anybody's even looking at you."

"You're just saying that."

"No, really. They're all looking at Amelia. See for yourself." 

Zelgadis decided to humor Gourry, so he looked out of the corner of his eye. Of all the people passing by, not one glanced his way. "There's a first."

"Still, I wish they would stop. It's not like Amelia will attack them." Gourry said.

"Tell that to them. We may know that she's Amelia, but those people just see a wolf. Wolves aren't exactly revered." Zelgadis sighed.

"I got it!"

Gourry and Zelgadis looked up to see Lina running towards them. 

"What took you so long, Lina?" Gourry asked.

"I figured out the solution to our problem!" Lina beamed.

"You found a cure?" Gourry and Zelgadis responded.

"What? No! That'll take some research. I got this!" Lina held up a collar.

"We waited for you to get a dog collar?" Zelgadis snapped.

"Not just any collar. Look at this inscription." Lina held it out to Gourry.

"Property of Lina Inverse." Gourry scratched his head. "How is that going to help us?"

"Simple. First, if Amelia has a collar she will look less like a wild animal and more like someone's pet. Second, should she get separated, people will know better than to mess with my property." Lina smiled.

"I should have known." Zelgadis grumbled.

Lina knelt down by Amelia. "Amelia, I got something for you." 

Amelia woke up to Lina's voice and wagged her tail expectantly. 

Lina untied the rope around Amelia's neck, then put the collar on in it's place. "And to make things easier..." Lina pulled a leash out of her cape pocket and attached it to the collar.

Amelia sniffed at the leash, unsure what to make of it.

"That's more like it. At least somebody's appreciative." Lina patted Amelia's head.

Gourry and Zelgadis just looked at each other and sighed. Some women...

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Yet again, I am not dead! (Although if this cold keeps up...) I was actually gone earlier last week, then as soon as I got back I picked up the Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker (awesome game! Although it slows down my productivity writing), so I've spent most of my free time playing that. But alack! My younger sister has moved in on the gaming, leaving me to sit here and type. ^_- 

I'm finally getting to the more enjoyable parts of this story (such as the shopping scene which I never planned on writing, but it came to me as I wrote, I love when that happens.), and hopefully I'll be able to have another chapter up within the next week or so. Things aren't always going to be happy cheery though... Now I'm off to shake off this cold! (And watch some Zelda on the side.) 


	7. Good wolf, Bad wolf

"Zo atz e la nah?"

"Vwee eed tsu faid a ay tsu el Amelia."

"Ahtsu re gaing oo too?"

"Eel gaw tsu ze awntahns."

"Awtahns?"

"Ah, ycantraupsu ter."

"Exactly. They will know more than we do on how to help Amelia." 

Amelia's ears perked up. Up until now she had been sleeping soundly, but the sound of people talking had woken her. She began to open her eyes when something tickled her nose, causing her to sneeze. 

"What was that?" she thought. 

Amelia opened her eyes fully to see a campfire with three figures sitting around it. -At least, that's what she thought she saw. She felt almost as if she were in a fog. She moved to rub her eyes hoping to clear her vision but was very surprised to see two paws instead of hands!

Amelia bolted upright. Something definitely was not right! She looked at herself, noticing the swishing tail -that must have been what tickled her nose-, four legs, not to mention fur covering her from head to foot.

"What's going on?" Amelia tried to say but a whine came out instead.

"Please let this be a dream." Amelia attempted to walk, but got all tripped having four legs, then managed to get herself tangled up in the leash. She fought to get free with little success.

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis, hearing the commotion, got up to investigate.

"Amelia, calm down. What's gotten into you?" Lina asked, not really expecting an answer.

Amelia looked up to see who was speaking to her. She was confused at first because she couldn't tell who was talking to her, but then recognized Lina's voice.

"What happened to me?" Amelia could only bark in response.

"Hold on, Amelia, we'll get you straightened out." Lina said.

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis untangled Amelia, then watched as she sat up and looked about in confusion.

"What happened?" Amelia barked again.

"Hey Lina, I think she's trying to speak!" Gourry said.

"I can hear, Gourry. Too bad I can't understand her. Wait!" Lina knelt down. "Amelia, do you know me?"

"You're Lina! And Gourry! And...Zelgadis?" Amelia barked back, somewhat excitedly.

Lina shook her head. "So much for that idea. This is going to be harder than I thought."

"Oh no, they can't understand me at all! There must be something I...there!" Amelia reached out for a stick lying nearby, trying to pick it up with her paws. When that failed, she picked it up in her mouth. "Yuck! Bad idea! But it's the only way."

"I told you all of your fussing would ruin her. Now she wants to play fetch!" Zelgadis groaned.

"Hey, I didn't ask you!" Lina spat.

Amelia, meanwhile, began to drag the stick through the dirt.

"Hey, look! L...I...N...A!" She spelled your name, Lina." Gourry noted.

"Amelia, you're finally back!" Lina breathed a sigh of relief. 

Amelia wagged her tail and woofed in response. Then, being startled by her own voice, began to write in the dirt some more.

"...dog? Are you asking about yourself?" Lina asked.

Amelia wagged her tail in response.

"Close, but actually, you're a wolf." Lina noticed Amelia's ears droop. "All I know is that two men are behind it. Next time I catch one of them I'll show no mercy! I'll make him talk!"

Amelia hung her head. Why were people always after her and her family? Wait! What if this was another relation's crazy scheme to assume the throne? What about... Amelia wrote more.

"Da..ddy. Actually, I haven't heard anything from Seyruun. I'm sure Phil is fine." Lina lied, but she had no way of knowing if anything had happened to Prince Phil, nor did she want to upset Amelia more.

"Wait! Amelia, what's the last thing you remember?" Lina asked. 

"Pain." Gourry read.

Zelgadis cringed. "...what kind of pain?" Zelgadis asked, hoping it didn't pertain to him.

In response, Amelia spat out the stick, then tucked her head under her front paws.

"A head ache?" Gourry guessed.

"She must mean when she first changed into a werewolf!" Lina replied.

Zelgadis breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly Amelia let out a huge yawn.

"Good idea, Amelia, We have to set out early so we should get some sleep. Did you have any other questions?" Lina asked.

Amelia shook her head from side to side, fighting another yawn. 

"All right then, let's hit the sack! And don't worry Amelia, we will get to the bottom of this." Lina said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"You've got to love the mountain air! It's so invigorating!" Gourry beamed, a spring to his step.

"At least it would be if we were in the mountains." Lina responded.

"Well they aren't too far off. We'd get there sooner if you would walk faster, Lina." Gourry said.

"Gourry..." Lina clenched her fist in irritation, "...not all of us are blessed with longs legs like yours."

"Well Zelgadis is about the same height as you, and he's keeping a good pace!" Gourry responded.

"Hey! Are you implying I'm short!" Zelgadis snapped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lina glared at Zelgadis.

Zelgadis turned away from the two, feigning indifference. "I'm not getting involved."

"I didn't mean anything by it, Lina. Really." Gourry smiled innocently at Lina.

"To prove it you're paying for dinner tonight." Lina smiled not so innocently back.

"But Lina, you carry all of the money!" Gourry wailed.

"You should have thought of that before you spoke." Lina grinned. 

Gourry hung his head in defeat, and the group continued walking on. By early evening they reached the foothills. (There were no towns in sight -which meant no restaurants- but Gourry decided not to share this fact with Lina.)

"So, what are we going to do about food?" Gourry asked.

"Don't know. I didn't think about the possibility of there not being a town nearby." Lina sighed.

"You could go hunting." Zelgadis offered.

"Let's see, and our weapons of choice are swords, and magic. Swords are only really effective against large prey, which I've not seen, and the last time I used magic it charred all of my fish. I was really looking forward to that meal, too!" Lina replied.

"So what are we going to do?" Gourry asked again.

"Unless something comes along, we'll have to do some foraging." Lina answered.

"Let's go then." Zelgadis said.

So the group wandered about. Lina and Gourry looked around a meadow, while Zelgadis and Amelia ventured into some nearby trees. 

"Nothing but wood here, and that's not edible. Let's go back and look elsewhere, all right Amelia? Amelia?" Zelgadis looked down.

The leashed wolf was quietly sniffing about the area. She paused for a moment, then dashed into the underbrush! Zelgadis hadn't been expecting the sudden tug, and lost his grip on the leash.

"Amelia, no! Come back!" Zelgadis dashed after her, wondering what caused her to run off so suddenly.

Just ahead Zelgadis watched Amelia zig and zag wildly. At first he didn't know what to make of it, until he saw the smaller shape just ahead of Amelia. A rabbit! This could be a good opportunity to have a decent meal. Zelgadis continued chasing after the two, easily keeping up.

Amelia was totally caught up in the moment. Food was fleeing, but she had to catch it! ...if only it would slow down. Amelia finally gained on the rabbit, and lunged forward to nab it. Instead she got a kick in the face, which caused her to stumble and crash to the ground. The rabbit also lost it's footing, which sent it sprawling head over heels.

Now was his chance! Zelgadis quickly reached out and grabbed the rabbit as it got to it's feet. Not wanting to be caught, the rabbit kicked out at Zelgadis with it's strong hind legs. Zelgadis quickly remedied this by breaking the rabbit's neck. He then retraced his steps back to Amelia.

Having recovered from her fall, Amelia sat panting, trying to catch her breath. She could hear Zelgadis returning so she sat up and waited.

"Great job, Amelia. Now we'll get some peace and quiet from a certain sorceress."

Amelia wagged her tail and yipped in response.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Zelgadis and Amelia finally arrived back at the camp site.

"There you two are! What were you doing?" Lina scolded.

"Getting dinner." Zelgadis held up his quarry.

"Wow, you did better than we did! All we found were some mushrooms. Are you sure these are edible, Lina?" Gourry didn't look so sure.

"Of course! You learn a lot about these things when you're on the road. Hey Zel, bring that over! It's been a while since I had rabbit stew." Lina grinned in hunger.

"Here." Zelgadis passed off the rabbit to Lina.

"This is going to be so wonderful! Now then, here you are, Gourry." Lina in turn passed it off to Gourry.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Gourry asked.

"Gut it, clean it, prepare it for stew of course." Lina replied. 

"All I've got is my sword. Can I borrow your dagger at least?" Gourry looked to Lina.

"Oh, sure." Lina pulled out her dagger. "Here you go. Just don't break it, I've had that dagger for a long time."

"I'll treat it as my own." Gourry smiled.

"Glad to hear it." Lina smiled back. She then looked down to see Amelia happily wagging her tail. "What are you so happy about?"

Amelia yipped, looked to Gourry, then back to Lina.

"Ah! You must be as happy about the food as I am!" Lina winked. 

Amelia stopped cold, giving Lina a quizzical look. Body language was too overrated...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The meal was over, and the sky continued to grow darker, so the group set up camp for the night. Amelia was eager to help, but quickly found herself tethered to a stake. She whined in protest. 

"Sorry Amelia, but we can't risk you getting lost again." Lina replied.

Amelia's ears drooped as she plopped down near the dying campfire. 

"I'll make it up to you, promise." Lina patted her on the head then went back to work.

"Who's keeping watch tonight?" Zelgadis asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Nobody's around for miles, and besides, we've got our very own guard dog to warn us should there be otherwise." Lina winked. 

"Well, good night then Lina, Zel." Gourry crawled into his bedroll and was sound asleep in minutes.

"He must be tired." Zelgadis noted.

"Looks to be that way." Lina yawned. "As am I. See ya in the morning." and with that, Lina also got into her bedroll and went to sleep.

Zelgadis, left with no one to talk to, looked to Amelia. Her head was facing away from him, but he could see by her chest rhythmically rising and falling that she was also asleep. Zelgadis got into his bedroll and looked up into the night sky.

"It looks like there will be a full moon tomorrow, provided the clouds go away so we can see it." he said to no one in particular. Zelgadis gazed at the stars for a while longer before sleep finally claimed him.

The dying fire finally went out, surrounding the campsite in darkness. All was silent. Too silent. Amelia was lightly dozing... 

"Psst!"

Amelia's ears perked up, and she opened her eyes, surveying the area.

"Psst!"

There! Amelia saw a dark shape in the partial moonlight, about ten feet away. The shape began to advance toward her. Amelia sat up, ready to alert her companions.

"Wait, I mean you no harm!" the shape whispered.

"Then what are you doing here?" Amelia growled back.

"I've come to free you, of course."

"Did...do you understand me?" Amelia asked.

"Of course. Now do you want my help, or not?"

"Yes, please." Amelia answered.

The shape quietly moved nearer. Amelia noticed the shape was very wolf-like, but not quite. A werewolf, perhaps? Amelia hoped so, as she wanted to regain her human form as soon as possible!

"Just a sec, and I'll have you out of there." The shape pulled the stake out of the ground as quietly as possible. "There! Let's go!" 

Amelia followed after, somewhat surprised that no one had stirred. After they were a fair distance away, the shape stopped.

"All right, we should be safe now."

"Er, thank you, Mister..." Amelia trailed off.

"Oh, silly me! My name is Lee!"

"Thank you, Mr. Lee. My name is Amelia." Amelia replied.

Just then the cloud obscuring the moonlight passed, finally revealing Amelia's rescuer. Lee was in fact a werewolf.

"Thank goodness!" Amelia wagged her tail. "We've been looking for someone like you, Mr. Lee!"

"We?"

"Yes, my friends and I. They were who you 'saved' me from." Amelia grinned.

"You call humans that would tie you up friends? And what do they want with me?" Lee sounded skeptical.

"They're trying to right a wrong, although they are being a bit overprotective. You see, I'm not supposed to be like this. I'm supposed to be human, too! We were hoping you might have some idea on how to reverse this." Amelia replied.

"Just my luck. It's always the pretty ones, too." Lee sighed.

"Ah, thank you." Amelia stammered.

"As for helping you, I've got no idea. However, there is someone on the other side of the mountains who just might. I stop by there every year when I travel that way. (Got to follow the game, you know.) She's a really nice lady." Lee said.

"Thank you, that's much more than we've had to go on." Amelia smiled.

"Aw, Lee's got himself a girlfriend?"

Amelia whirled around to see a hulking werewolf standing over her. He leered at her.

"You've got good taste. How's about I take her off your paws?" The werewolf grinned.

"Not this time, Bayne!" Lee put himself between Bayne and Amelia. "Amelia, get out of here! Run!"

Amelia stepped back, not sure what to do.

"You've got a lot of guts to stand up to me. Not that it'll do you any good!" Bayne launched himself at Lee, knocking him to the ground. 

"RUN!!" Lee howled.

Amelia took off like a shot! She ran as fast as she could back to the campsite, but was stopped short by a sharp tug on her collar. Amelia looked back to see the stake still tied to her leash, now ensnared in some tree roots. Amelia tugged on the leash, but it wouldn't budge. Just as she started tugging the stake loose with her teeth, she heard Bayne approach.

"You can run, but I'll still catch ya!" Bayne bellowed. Seeing his prey, Bayne pounced at Amelia.

Amelia let out a cry of alarm.

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No, the beginning wasn't meant to sound like the Sims, (I just realized that now as I typed it up!) I was actually having fun distorting English. You ought to be able to figure out what's being said if you say it out loud, and slowly. (If not, it's nothing too important. Just the three discussing where to go.) As for the cliffhanger, I could have continued with the next part, but I wanted to put up what I have. Everything is already written out though, I just need to type it all up. I'll try and have the next part up by next week or so.


	8. Confessions are good!

Zelgadis shot up from his sound sleep. "What was that?"

"Wha..? Go back 'ta sleep." Lina mumbled.

Another cry was heard.

"That!" Zelgadis shouted.

Lina also sat up. "That didn't sound good. Amelia, are you- Amelia?" Lina looked to see a hole in the earth where Amelia had been tethered, and nothing else.

Just then Lee came crashing out of the brush and into the camp. 

Lina was not happy to see him. "AH! Werewolf! Fire-"

"Wait! Your friend is in danger! You have to save her!" Lee cut Lina off.

"Take us to her!" Zelgadis demanded.

The trio followed Lee back into the forest...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Hold still you little runt!"

Although caught by her leash, Amelia was doing everything possible to avoid Bayne's advances. Bayne just grew all the more angry.

"If you won't go willingly then I'll force you to!" Bayne lunged at Amelia, grabbing her neck in his jaws.

Amelia yelped in pain, but still fought to get away. Fortunately when Bayne had grabbed at her neck, her collar got in the way, so he only had the back of her neck trapped between his teeth. Although it was extremely painful, Amelia decided that being raped by Bayne was much worse! Amelia pulled with all of her might to break free, ignoring the burning pain as her skin tore. Freedom!

Bayne had had it by now. No way was some shrimpy little female going to get the better of him! He reared up onto his hind legs.

Amelia took this momentary pause to run in a circle around him, thus trapping Bayne's legs in the leash!

That was the last straw! Bayne easily bit through the leash, then lunged at Amelia! ...the only problem was, she was no longer there. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The second the leash was cut, Amelia made a mad dash for the campsite! It wasn't long before she spotted Lina and the others. She barked out to them, before dashing behind Lina.

"Wha-? Well that was easier than I thought-" Lina was interrupted by something crashing through the forest toward her.

"You'll not be getting away from me!" Bayne lept out of the brush in a fury! As he neared his target, he looked up to see a group of humans, and one was charging up a spell!

"Nobody attacks my friends and gets away with it! FIRE BALL!!" Lina released her spell at Bayne.

...after the smoke cleared, Bayne's body could be seen laying lifeless on the ground.

"Is he dead?" Zelgadis wondered.

"He'd better be." Lina replied. "Anyone that willingly attacks friends of Lina Inverse had better watch out."

"Who's Lina Inverse?" Lee asked.

Lina's eyes bugged out. "Me! She is me!"

Just then Amelia bumped against Lina's leg, causing Lina to look down.

"Amelia, what were you thinking? You could have been killed!" Lina scolded.

Amelia whined back.

"It's not her fault. Not really, anyway." Lee spoke up.

"What were you doing out there, anyway?" Zelgadis glared at Lee. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know! I thought you all had trapped her and were going to cause her harm. It's happened to so many others..." Lee trailed off.

"In any case, it looks like we found what we came for, eh Amelia?" Lina patted Amelia. She noticed that her hand became sticky after touching the wolf. "A-Amelia! You're bleeding! Just what did he do to you?" Lina cast a Recovery spell to close the large gash on Amelia's neck.

Just remembering what she had gone through made Amelia cry. (As in how a dog cries, not a person.)

"It's all right, Miss Amelia. I'll tell them." Lee spoke softly to Amelia, then turned to Lina.

"You see, that werewolf you just did in was something of a terror around here. He used to be a bandit, but after he became infected he terrorized our womenfolk. He tried to have his way with them, so to speak. But thanks to you, we can all live in peace again." Lee said. 

"You mean he..?!? Amelia, he-you.." Zelgadis was too flustered to think straight.

Amelia growled in protest.

"Don't worry, she wouldn't let him." Lee translated.

"We can all be glad for your unbreakable will, Amelia. We don't need anything else to deal with right now! And there. You ought to be as good as new." Lina said.

Amelia wagged her tail in thanks, then barked to Lee.

"Oh, right! Amelia told me what you came for. Unfortunately I cannot help you, but I know of someone who can. She lives over on the other side of the mountain, about half a week's journey from here." Lee said. 

"More walking! Isn't there a town anywhere around here?" Gourry sighed.

"Actually, yes. It's near the top of the mountain." Lee replied. 

"Thank goodness! We need to get more supplies (and another leash!) Thank you for your help, umm..." Lina paused.

"Lee, Miss Inverse." Lee smiled.

"All right, Lee. As for us, we aren't going anywhere until daybreak, so we might as well get some sleep in the meantime!" Lina said.

"Right!" Gourry cheered.

As Lina and Co. turned to leave, Amelia looked to Lee. "Thank you again Mr. Lee, for everything."

"T'was my pleasure, m'lady." Lee bowed, then disappeared back into the forest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Lina awoke to the sun shining in her face. Not a great way to be woken up, but much preferred to other weather hazards. Lina sat up and yawned.

"Everybody awake yet?" Lina asked.

"Quite a while ago, actually." Zelgadis responded. "Gourry was up, but he fell asleep waiting for you."

"And Amelia?"

"She's still sleeping as well." Zelgadis replied.

"Anything for breakfast?" Lina yawned.

"What am I, your personal chef? In answer to your question, no. Other than water." Zelgadis moped.

"What's with you, not get enough sleep?" Lina asked.

"No, it's nothing. Are we going to leave anytime soon?" Zelgadis replied.

"When I'm good and ready." Lina poked Gourry. "Gourry. Hey, Gourry! Time to wake up!"

"Huh, wha?" Gourry sat up. "Oh Lina, you're awake!"

"Hello to you too, sleepyhead." Lina grinned.

Gourry just yawned and blinked sleepily.

Lina looked over to Amelia. "Now to rouse Sleeping Beauty." Lina got up from her bedroll and walked over to the sleeping wolf.

"Amelia, time to rise and shine!" Lina cheered.

No response.

Lina rocked Amelia's shoulder back and forth gently. "Hey, you in there?"

Amelia slowly opened her eyes and looked at Lina.

"That's more like it. We're heading out soon, so you need to get up." Lina got up and walked back to her bedroll, packing it up for the day.

Within moments Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis were ready to break camp.

"Hey, what's with Amelia?" Gourry wondered.

Lina and Zelgadis looked over, While she had woken up, Amelia was still lying in the exact spot. Lina walked back over to her and crouched down.

"Hey, were you ready or what?" Lina asked softly.

Amelia looked to Lina, whined weakly, before standing up. She took a step, then staggered and fell.

"Amelia!" Lina looked her over, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Zelgadis and Gourry rushed over.

"What's wrong with her?" Zelgadis asked.

"I wonder..." Gourry touched Amelia's nose. "Her nose is dry."

"Is that bad?" Lina asked.

"Usually when an animal's nose is dry, it means they're sick. You don't think she caught something from those werewolves last night, do you?" Zelgadis said.

"It sure hit fast, if that's the case. She won't get far in this condition. Hey Gourry, think you can carry her?" Lina asked.

"Sure!" Gourry hoisted the limp wolf over his shoulders.

"There's got to be a better way to carry her than that." Lina replied.

"Not without it being uncomfortable for both of us." Gourry said. 

"Let's just go already. Standing here all day isn't going to help Amelia." Zelgadis said.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Sheesh!" Lina sighed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Several hours later the group was still walking. Since they had no food, they had no reason to stop (much to Lina's chagrin), so they continued onward.

"Hey Lina, how much longer until we get there?" Gourry asked.

'Your guess is as good as mine, but since there's still a lot of mountain left before we reach the top, I say at least another half day's journey." Lina replied.

"Oh. Were we going to stop before then?" Gourry continued.

"I wasn't planning on it. Why do you ask?" Lina looked to Gourry.

"Well, it's just that Amelia seems worse." Gourry stated.

Lina stopped dead in her tracks. "Why didn't you say anything, Gourry?"

"I thought I just did." Gourry replied.

Zelgadis, meanwhile, walked up to Gourry and looked at Amelia. It was easy to see she wasn't feeling well, but now her tongue was hanging limply from her mouth.

"Here, set her down, Gourry." Zelgadis commanded.

Gourry lay the sick wolf gently on the ground. Amelia made no move to get up, or to get more comfortable. Instead she continued to pant weakly.

"Do you think she's thirsty?" Gourry asked.

"Let's see. Here, give her some of this." Lina handed a canteen to Zelgadis.

Zelgadis pulled a bowl out of his pack and poured water into it. He then offered the bowl to Amelia.

Amelia groaned quietly, turning her head away.

"Amelia, we're not going to let you get deathly sick on us! Either you drink it, or I'll have to force you to." Lina said.

Amelia looked back at the water, but felt too horrible to drink it. She knew Lina wasn't lying though, so she slowly lapped up some water, willing it to stay down.

"I don't think we can travel anymore today with Amelia in this condition, Lina." Zelgadis said.

"I know, but what are we going to do?" Lina patted Amelia's head, but stopped when the wolf winced in pain. "Okay, we'll set up camp here!"

"In the middle of the road?" Gourry asked.

"Of course not! We'll move off of it first. I hate to move Amelia, but we can't leave her here. Gourry?" Lina said.

"Got it taken care of." Gourry picked Amelia back up, and followed Lina off of the road into a small clearing.

"This'll do, after we have everything set up. Think you can handle that, Zel?" Lina turned to Zelgadis.

"Yes, but where are you going?" Zelgadis responded.

"Gourry and I are going to go get some firewood, and hopefully find something to eat as well. We'll be back later! C'mon, Gourry." Lina waved to Zelgadis as she and Gourry left the clearing.

"Why do I always end up doing all of Lina's work?" Zelgadis sighed.

Amelia whined her apology for not being able to help.

Zelgadis jumped. "Oh, uh, Amelia, I didn't mean to disturb you. Go ahead and get some rest." Zelgadis wasn't about to say anything, but he was very worried about Amelia.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"I'm worried about Amelia." Lina said, as she gathered wood. "I mean, what if she were to...die? What would we do then?"

"Don't worry, Lina. I'm sure she'll be just fine." Gourry placed a hand on Lina's shoulder.

"You're right. She's too stubborn to die that easily!" Lina smiled.

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"Hey Gourry? ...do you mind letting me go now?"

"Oh! Sorry Lina, I didn't mean to-"

"It's all right, Gourry." Lina continued gathering more wood, a small smile on her face.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Is she doing any better?" Lina knelt down next to Amelia.

Zelgadis shook his head, afraid to speak.

"Come on, Amelia, you've been through worse than this! ...kind of. You can't lose to this!" Lina's voice was restrained.

Amelia gave Lina a pained look, then thumped her tail on the ground once.

"That's the spirit!" Lina turned away, not wanting Amelia to see her fighting back tears. Lina then got up and walked over to the campfire.

"You okay?" Gourry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried." Lina looked behind her. "Hey Zelgadis, how're you holding up?"

Zelgadis was near the edge of the campsite, his back turned to Lina and Gourry. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, not even turning to look at the two.

Lina and Gourry shared a look. Poor guy...

"Well, night's falling. All we can do is get ready for tomorrow." Gourry said.

Lina just nodded, lost in thought.

Suddenly Amelia let out a cry of pain as she stood up. Her head hung down as she gripped the earth, and continued to cry out in pain. 

"Amelia!" Lina shouted as she, Gourry, and Zelgadis ran to Amelia's side.

Amelia didn't respond, instead she howled out her distress. Slowly but surely her features began to change. Her limbs grew longer, while her muzzle and tail shrank down and disappeared completely.

"...she's a werehuman!" Lina gasped.

The now human Amelia fainted, collapsing to the ground in a heap. Lina removed her cape and draped it over the unconscious girl.

"But how?" Zelgadis wondered.

"I'm not sure myself." Lina replied. "Gourry, do you have an extra shirt?"

"Yeah, why?" Gourry asked.

"I'm going to need it. Now help me move her..."

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Amelia woke up to a figure hovering over her. As her vision cleared, she could see it was Lina.

"Miss Lina, what-"

"Shh. Take it easy." Lina applied a cold compress to Amelia's forehead. "You gave us quite a scare."

"What did I..." Amelia trailed off, realizing that she could speak again. Amelia looked at her hand and smiled to see five fur-less fingers. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me. Did anything happen to you when you snuck off with Lee?"

"Well no, not until that other werewolf came along and..." Amelia grew silent.

"What's wrong, Amelia?" Lina asked.

Amelia began to get choked up. "He, he t-tried to..he tried to rape me! He was the one that bit my neck!" Amelia balled up her fists in rage.

"It's okay, Amelia. I took care of that jerk." Lina reassured her. 

"I know, it's just that...I was so scared!"

"You're all right now." Lina soothed.

"Oh, so she's awake!" Gourry said. He and Zelgadis had just returned from getting more water and firewood.

Amelia smiled at them.

"Uh, Lina, could I, you know..." Zelgadis stammered.

Lina smiled a knowing smile, then stood up. "She's all your's, Zel. C'mon Gourry, let's go for a walk."

"But I just got back-"

"Let's go!" Lina pulled Gourry away.

Zelgadis shuffled around a bit nervously, before settling down near Amelia. (She was currently occupying his bedroll.)

"So, how are you feeling?" Zelgadis asked, although a bit shakily. 

"Better, thank you." Amelia replied.

"Ah, Amelia? There's something I need to tell you."

"Yes?"

"Well, it's just that..I didn't mean to attack you!" Zelgadis blurted.

Amelia looked puzzled. "Mr. Zelgadis, what do you mean?"

Zelgadis cringed. He had hoped to bypass a complete confession! "You see...it was stupid really... I didn't know it was you when I did it!"

"It's all right, Mr. Zelgadis. I don't remember anything about it at all, but seeing how much it's hurt you shows you truly are a good person inside." Amelia smiled.

"Thank you. I just couldn't continue on as if it didn't happen because I knew it happened, and when I realized what I must have put you through... Amelia, I do..._care_ about you, and I don't want to see you hurt. Especially by me." Zelgadis hung his head in shame.

After a moment of no response, Zelgadis looked over to see Amelia had fallen asleep.

"It figures." Zelgadis stoked the fire, waiting for Lina and Gourry to get back.

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Finally, I am past this part of the story! (Incidently, the whole attempted rape scene is one of the very first scenes I thought of when this story got stuck in my head. Thanks to my friend **Rocky** it is a lot less graphic than I originally planned, which is for the better.) Lina will eventually figure out the huge mistake she made...

As for Amelia getting ill, I had originally planned for that to happen (you'll find out later why she got so sick), but I hadn't intended to have it be so serious. As life would work out, I was dealing with a very sick cat at the time (my beloved pet for almost half of my life), so Lina's reactions were my reactions dealing with the possibility of losing a close friend. (Although Lina was spared where I was not. Puff was my inspiration to the end. ...although I still hate that name!)

Anyway, things are going to be a bit happier for now, especially the next chapter (which I never intended to write, but I'm quite happy with it.) Provided I don't die slaving in front of my sewing machine, expect it by next weekend!


	9. Hey, a chase scene!

As she slept, Amelia slowly grew aware of how hot she was. Soon it was too much to bear, so she woke up. It was still fairly dark out, yet already she could hear birds chirping. The sun would soon rise. The campfire had long gone out, so the heat wasn't coming from there...

Amelia crawled out of the bedroll, but was hampered by the big blue shirt she was wearing. She reached down to untangle the shirt, she realized that she was a wolf again. Amelia mentally sighed. It would have been too good to be true to remain human after the full moon. Amelia struggled out of the shirt.

As she was doing so, Amelia was startled by a sound. She turned to see Zelgadis slumped over, still sitting on the log from the night before. The sound she had heard had been him shivering.

Amelia felt a pang of guilt, realizing that Zelgadis had been exposed to the elements all night while she slept in his bedroll. She gripped the top blanket of the bedroll in her teeth, then pulled it over to Zelgadis. With some patience and a lot of effort, she was able to cover him successfully.

That accomplished, Amelia yawned, curled up at Zelgadis' feet, then went back to sleep.

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"Hey Lina, are you awake yet?" Gourry poked Lina.

"Mmm?" Lina furrowed her brow, rolling over in her sleep.

"Come on, Lina, you need to get up." Gourry nudged her again.

"Leeme 'lone!" Lina swatted Gourry's hand away.

"I hate to do this..." Gourry pulled off Lina's blanket.

"Yikes! It's freezing!" Lina quickly woke up.

Gourry shook his head. "That's why you need to get up. It's starting to snow. We should head for that village before we get stuck."

"Are 'melia and Zel up yet?" Lina rubbed at her eye.

"Not yet, no." Gourry replied.

"Brr! Okay, let's get going before we freeze!" Lina rolled up her bedroll, as did Gourry.

Lina looked to see where the others were and suddenly broke out into a huge grin. "Aww, look at Zelgadis all bundled up! I hate to wake him." Lina winked at Gourry.

As Lina crept up to Zelgadis, Amelia lifted her head and looked at Lina.

"Oh, morning Amelia! I didn't see you down there." Lina patted Amelia's head.

Amelia in turn stretched, yawned, then stood up, still looking at Lina.

"I'd say it's about time Zel got up, don't you?" Lina grinned. She then bent down close to Zelgadis' ear. "Hey Zelgadis! Up and at 'em!" 

"What? Where?" Zelgadis sprang up.

"At ease, Zel." Lina grinned.

Zelgadis looked about, confused for a moment. "Was I sleeping?" 

"I'll say!" Lina replied.

Zelgadis scowled. "I was trying to keep watch." Zelgadis then saw Amelia, and sagged a bit.

"C'mon, Zelgadis, I think this cold air is just the thing to wake you up. Oh, and don't forget your bedroll!" Lina walked back to where she had abandoned her own.

"I can take care of myself, Lina." Zelgadis easily spotted his bedroll - minus the blanket! He quickly realized the blanket was wrapped around him. Odd! He didn't remember grabbing his blanket at all...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"We're sure making good time today, Lina. I can see that town already!" Gourry said.

"Hey, if you want to get stuck in this snow storm, by all means, slow down." Lina frowned. She wasn't in the best mood, having been rudely woken up.

"We'd better get there soon. I'm not sure how much longer Amelia can keep up." Zelgadis spoke up, interrupting any further conversation between the two.

Amelia growled quietly at Zelgadis. She was doing well enough to keep up! ...although she was still feeling a bit feverish, and she was getting awfully tired...

"We'll make it! I say half an hour more. Maybe less if this snow lets up." Lina replied.

Half an hour later they did indeed find themselves in the town, much to Lina's pleasure. Amelia was also overjoyed to finally reach their destination, and was quick to plop down in the snow to rest. 

"Quaint place. I wonder if they have any shops or inns?" Lina looked around.

"Greetings, travelers. What brings you to the village of Ahrai?" 

The group all turned to see a little old lady smiling at them from a nearby house. Lina was the first to respond.

"Oh, hello Ma'am. We're really just passing through, but were hoping to stock up on more supplies."

"Such a nice young lady." The woman smiled. "We may be small, but we have quite a few excellent shops here. They're all near the center of town."

"Thank you!" Lina smiled back in gratitude.

"You're welcome, dear. Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Eva, head of this village."

"You run this whole town?" Gourry wondered.

"Gourry!" Lina elbowed him in the gut. "Sorry about that, Ma'am. He likes to talk before he thinks. As for me, I'm Lina Inverse, and these are my traveling companions, Gourry Gabriev, Zelgadis Greywords, and A-" Lina froze. She couldn't give Amelia's name! It would be too risky.

Amelia glanced up at Lina nervously.

"A...Amia! This is my faithful dog, Amia!" Lina lied.

Eva didn't even seem to notice Lina's pause. "Lina Inverse! Yes, you're quite famous, aren't you? I'm glad to finally meet you in person."

"Oh, my pleasure." Lina laughed nervously. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Eva, but we need to get going. We're kind of on a tight schedule."

Eva was surprised by the abruptness of it, but watched the group of travelers make their way into town. Three of them, anyway, as Lina's dog was lagging behind.

"Miss Inverse, have you been on the road long?" Eva called out. 

Lina looked back. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"Your dog seems awfully tired. You can leave her here with me if you'd like. Just until you're ready to leave, of course."

"That's probably a good idea, Lina. She hasn't been feeling well, you know." Zelgadis noted.

"What do you think, 'Amia'?" Lina asked.

Amelia _did_ want to stay with Lina and the others, but she _was_ feeling very worn out. On the other hand this Eva seemed very kind. Amelia barked at Lina and wagged her tail.

"All right, we'll take you up on that offer!" Lina grinned. She then handed Amelia over to Eva (she still needed to buy a new leash, the other having been destroyed.) "We'll be back in a few hours, so you be good."

Gourry and Zelgadis groaned quietly, wishing they could stay behind as well.

Eva led Amelia into her yard, closing the fence gate behind her, then waved to Lina's group. "We'll see you later!"

"Well then, let's get you settled in." Eva led Amelia to the porch. "I'll be back in a moment, so you stay right here." Eva went into her house, reemerging a moment later with a blanket. She spread the blanket out on the side of the porch.

"There you go, make yourself at home." Eva patted Amelia on the head, then went back inside.

Amelia gladly curled up on the blanket and fell asleep.

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"C'mon, you go too slow!"

"You would too if your legs were as short as mine!"

Amelia was disturbed by two voices outside of Eva's front gate. She watched as the gate opened, revealing two young children.

"Do you think Grammy's home?"

"Where else would she be?"

"Look!" squealed the younger one. "Grammy got a puppy!"

"It looks like a wolf to me." replied the older one.

"Nu-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

The two clambered up the porch as they continued to bicker. Amelia eyed them warily.

"Aw look, the puppy's so cute!" cooed the younger.

"Careful, wait until Grammy says it's okay to play with it." The older one knocked on the door.

Eva answered. "Yes? Oh, Billy and Jillian!"

"Hi, Grammy!" the two chorused.

"Mom went out shopping, but we wanted to see you instead." Billy (the older) said.

"When did you get the puppy?" asked Jillian (the younger.)

"I'm actually watching her while her owner shops. Be careful, she's not feeling well." Eva warned.

"Hi, puppy." Jillian put out her hand slowly.

Amelia sniffed at it, then nuzzled her hand.

Jillian squealed happily. "Can we play with her, Grammy?"

"Don't pull her tail or treat her badly." Eva said.

"We know, Grammy." Billy said, then he too walked over to Amelia. "Hey girl, how're you?" He patted Amelia on the head gently.

"Be sure to play nice. I'll go back inside to fix you something to eat."

"Thanks, Grammy!"

Eva smiled as she went back inside.

"So what kind of games do you know? Fetch, maybe?" Billy ran to a nearby pile of wood and pulled out a stick, then tossed it across the yard. "Go get it, girl!"

Amelia decided to humor the boy, ran into the yard and fetched the stick, then brought it back.

After a few minutes of this, Jillian walked up to Billy. "Where's the sled?"

"You left it at the gate, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Jillian ran to get it. "Can you pull me, Billy?" 

"Sure, climb on." After Jillian had done so, Billy struggled to pull her around the yard.

Amelia barked at him.

"Do you want to pull it, girl?" Billy asked.

Amelia ran up, gripped the lead rope in her mouth, then pulled Jillian around the yard. The two children took turns getting pulled on the sled, and even let Amelia ride while they pulled the sled! 

"Hey, what'cha doin'?" A new voice interrupted.

Billy, Jillian, and Amelia looked up to see an older boy standing beyond the fence.

"Nothing Joey, just playing." Billy replied.

"Oh yeah? Can I give it a try?" Joey asked.

"Okay, but you better not be mean." Billy warned.

"Who, me?" Joey let himself in, then plopped down on the vacant sled.

Amelia was a bit unsure of this new boy, but began to pull him around anyway.

"You call this fun? This is too slow. I'll show you how to make him go faster!" Joey yanked on Amelia's tail.

Amelia yelped in pain, but instead of running faster, she turned and knocked Joey to the ground, pinned him under her weight and growled a warning.

"Puppy, no!" Jillian wailed.

Amelia quickly felt ashamed, got off of Joey and went back to the porch.

"Joey, I told you not to do that!" Billy scolded.

Joey looked in shock at Amelia. "That dog attacked me!"

"Serves you right for picking on her!" Jillian yelled.

"Who asked you?" Joey pushed Jillian into the snow.

"Hey!" Billy was mad now.

Amelia outraged at seeing this, jumped from the porch and charged at the boy. Joey in turn panicked and ran out of the yard. Amelia then trotted back over to Jillian, and gently nuzzled the crying girl.

"Why is he so mean, Billy?" Jillian sniffled.

"Some kids are just like that. Now come on, let's go inside." Billy helped his sister up.

"Okay. Be good, puppy. Don't let that mean Joey make you mad." Jillian hugged Amelia's neck, then followed her brother inside.

Amelia looked to the way Joey had fled and growled. Somebody wasn't doing a good job of disciplining that boy! No matter, he was gone now. Amelia curled back up on the blanket.

Piff!

Amelia was startled by a sudden noise, looking up to see snow smeared across the porch. As she was looking at it, something hard smacked her upside the head! Dazed, Amelia looked out to see that Joey had returned and was throwing snowballs at her! Even while she was figuring this out, another one smacked her across the face!

That did it! Half blinded by the ice in her eyes, Amelia charged at the gate, easily leaping over it, as she pursued after the boy. 

Joey hadn't expected this! He screamed in fear as he ran away. 

All of this was not lost on the residents inside the house. Hearing the commotion, Eva and the children stepped outside. They were quick to notice the empty yard, and the sounds of barking and yelling fading in the distance.

"Oh no!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Amelia continued to charge after Joey, until realization struck! She had left the place she was supposed to stay in, and now she was lost! Amelia looked about to orient herself. Unfortunately everything looked pretty similar when you only stood 2 feet off the ground and everything was blanketed in white...

Amelia began to wander about aimlessly.

"There is it! That's the dog that attacked me!"

Amelia realized that Joey had returned, and with him was a rather tall, burly man. Amelia made to get away.

"Oh no you don't! No animal attacks my son and lives!" The man grabbed Amelia by the collar and hoisted her off the ground.

Amelia struggled to get free, finding it hard to breathe in the man's tight grasp.

"Hey! Let her go!"

The man turned to see a rather ticked off Lina, who just happened to be passing by.

"Nothin' doin'! This animal attacked my son! Any animal that would attack a human bein' must pay!" The man shot back.

"Attacked?" Lina said in shock. Surely Amelia knew better than to do that?"

Amelia continued to struggle, weakening with the lack of oxygen. 

"Is there a problem here, Lina?" Eva and the children finally caught up.

The man visibly paled. "Lina? Lina Inverse?"

Lina eyed the man strangely. "Yes. Now let go of my dog before I force you to!"

"Oh, of course, I'm so sorry!" The man gently set Amelia back on the ground. "Please Miss Inverse, I didn't know it was you - that this lovely dog belonged to you!" The man bowed repeatedly as he backed away. "Come along, Joey, I think you'll be just fine!!" The man grabbed his son and fled down the street, screaming all the way.

"What...was...that all about?" Lina asked.

Eva walked up to Lina, the children running to the gasping 'puppy'.

"I forgot to tell you, but many of the folks up here are ex-bandits." Eva grinned. "Maybe now he'll teach that son of his some respect!"

"What happened, anyway? Did 'Amia' actually attack him?" Lina walked over to Amelia.

"It wasn't the puppy's fault! Joey pulled her tail, and he pushed me!" Jillian replied.

"Yeah, he's a real jerk." Billy continued.

"That, and I'm sure he egged her on. Unless your dog can throw snowballs." Eva said.

Lina looked at Amelia, who looked away in shame.

"I think I'll take Amia now. Thank you so much for watching her. I'm sorry for what she put you through." Lina pulled out her newly purchased leash, hooked it onto Amelia's collar, and started to walk off.

"Bye puppy, I'll miss you!" Jillian cried.

"Come children, let's go back home." Eva started to walk back the way she had come.

"Hey Grammy, do you think we could ever have a dog?" Billy asked. 

"We'll have to see what your parents say."

Eva and the children disappeared from sight.

"So, what have you got to say for yourself?" Lina asked.

Amelia whimpered in response.

"Amelia, you can't go around attacking people. Especially small children! What if I hadn't walked by when I did?"

Amelia hung her head, not wanting to meet Lina's gaze.

"I guess we should be thankful, well, that guy should be thankful. Just think if Zelgadis had seen what he did to you. I don't think he would have left here alive!" Lina smiled.

Amelia looked back at Lina.

"Oh come on, I can't be too hard on you. You were doing what you'd always do, although this situation is radically different." Lina knelt down. "Now hold still, your face is covered in snow!"

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You have just finished reading the chapter I never intended to write! (Don't you love surprises?) I've never actually been too fond of kids, but then my oldest brother and his wife just had to have an adorable little girl (and guess who did a lot of babysitting for them?) Needless to say I am now hooked and can't wait to have my own family...after I get married and all (but first I've got to find the right guy, and that's been pretty challenging. Oh well, it'll happen someday.)

Anyway...feedback! I hadn't really expected to get much (if any), especially since this story is radically different than what you usually see, but it's been a nice surprise overall. Special thanks to Tara-chan who has reviewed almost every chapter. It's nice to have someone give consistent feedback; it lets me know what people think (and whether or not I've gone too far!) ^_^ 

Also, Raven Summersong, I love your fanfics! (Especially Bird, which I also found to be out of the ordinary, but I've really enjoyed it. You need to update so I can read your story and put off writing mine!) ^_- Also, thanks for the idea. The whole transformation issue won't really be coming up that much, but you did give me some inspiration on what to do in later chapters. (Now I just need to write them up...)

Whew! Another chapter done, so I'm off to play Golden Sun: The Lost Age. (It's a wonderful sequel to the original GBA RPG, but I'll try to get another chapter up by the end of the week.) See you all then!


	10. This be Thisbe

As Lina and Amelia trekked back to meet up with Gourry and Zelgadis, the wind started to pick up. By the time they reached the inn, a blizzard was upon them.

"Great, just great! No way we can travel in this!" Lina made her way inside, tugging Amelia along.

"Hey Lina, where were you?" Gourry looked up from where he had been sitting.

"I ran in to a bit of trouble." Lina glanced down to Amelia, but then continued on. "We won't be able to leave as soon as I wanted to. There's a nasty blizzard out there."

"Great, so now what do we do?" Zelgadis sighed. (He was sitting near Gourry, watching the supplies they had just bought.)

"Hey, I'm not against a warm bed for the night." Lina winked. "Who knows how long it'll be before the next one?"

Lina went to the main desk to reserve rooms for the night, then the group went to their respective rooms to settle in before dinnertime.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

As Lina arranged her room to her liking, Amelia nudged her leg to get her attention. When Lina stopped to look at her, Amelia whined, trying to explain her earlier actions.

"Amelia, save it for when I don't have to guess everything you're trying to tell me. And don't worry, I'm sure you had a very good reason to do what you did. Just don't do it again, especially if you're not with us. You've got to be careful now, especially since you aren't exactly human." Lina hated to scold, but even she knew she couldn't protect Amelia from everything.

Amelia sighed. She didn't need the reminder...

"Cheer up, this won't last forever. We're close to finding how to cure you, and after that it'll be a snap!" Lina smiled.

Amelia wagged her tail. It was times like these that she was glad to have such a great friend - even if Lina _did_ have many flaws.

After looking about the room for a moment, Lina clapped her hands together, as if to knock off any dust that may have been there. "Okay, things are in order here. What say we go get some dinner?" 

Amelia barked out happily. Food was always a good thing!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

By morning the storm had finally stopped, and Lina was eager to get moving.

"But Lina, why do we have to leave so soon?" Gourry asked.

"Because, the sooner we find this person we're looking for, the sooner we'll be done with this quest. I'm sure you agree, right Amelia?" Lina looked back, alarmed that she couldn't see the wolf anywhere. "Amelia?"

Said wolf suddenly broke through the snow before plunging back in again.

"I don't think it was such a good idea to leave when the snow is so deep." Zelgadis groaned as he fought through the waist-high snow.

"Yeah, well, too bad! We can't wait any longer!" Lina also struggled to get through.

"It's not really so bad." Gourry replied.

"Again, not all of us have long legs like you, Gourry." Lina groaned.

The four continued to trudge on throughout the day as best as they could. Just as the sun sank low in the sky...

"Say Lina, how are we supposed to find this place?" Gourry asked. 

"Well..." Lina paused. "I don't know, actually. I'm thinking we'll find something out of the ordinary."

"Like that?" Gourry pointed up in the sky.

"Don't do that, Gourry!" After the initial shock, Lina followed Gourry's gaze. "What's that?"

"It's too far for me to see well, but it looks fairly large." Zelgadis commented.

Amelia just looked on in bewilderment. She couldn't see nearly as far as her companions to even know what they were talking about. Although, she did hear the flapping of wings, but that could just be birds, she reasoned.

"Let's get a closer look!" Lina scampered down the mountain.

"Whatever it was, it went into those trees." Gourry pointed out. 

"Yes, but that looks more promising." Zelgadis motioned to a small column of rising smoke.

"I think we found what we were looking for." Lina grinned. "Now come on!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Lina's suspicions proved correct, for the smoke was coming from the chimney of a house. A rather large house, but a house nonetheless.

"Are we going in, or aren't we?" Zelgadis didn't care to stand outside gaping at the house.

Amelia wagged her tail, then pulled forward on the leash.

"Hey, wait up!" Lina and Gourry stopped gaping to catch up. As they neared the door, Lina turned to Gourry and Zelgadis. "Now, let me handle this."

Gourry and Zelgadis obliged and let Lina go in front of them. Lina knocked on the door.

"Anybody home?" Lina called.

The door opened a crack. "What business do you have here?" a feminine voice asked.

"We were sent here by... (What was his name? Oh!) Lee. He told us you could help us." Lina replied.

"Ah, seekers of knowledge, welcome!" The door opened the rest of the way to reveal a tall robed woman. "I am Thisbe, caretaker of this place. Please, step inside." She stepped aside as the group came in. 

"So how may I assist you?" Thisbe asked.

"Actually, we were hoping you could help our friend here. You see-" Lina was cut off as Thisbe walked right past her.

"What a marvelous piece of work you are! Were you born this way?" Thisbe poked and prodded Zelgadis.

Zelgadis backed away. "Cut it out! And no, I was cursed." He glowered at the memory.

"Whoever did it was a master craftsman. Where's my notebook?" Thisbe looked about, totally oblivious to the others.

"He's not the one I was talking about!" Lina cried. She didn't appreciate being ignored.

Thisbe looked to Lina, as if noticing her for the first time. "Oh? Who, then? Surely not the swordsman..."

Gourry backed away. "Lina.." he wailed quietly.

"It's all right, Gourry. As I was saying, our friend here," Lina pulled Amelia out from behind Zelgadis, "has come about a serious predicament."

Thisbe glanced at Amelia. "You don't say. Heydu, I need your assistance out here!"

What looked to be a wingless scaled bat hopped off of a nearby bookshelf, notebook in hand, and scampered up to Thisbe.

"Now then, be a good lad and take note of this." Thisbe knelt down in front of Amelia, but directed her questions to Lina. "So what happened?"

"Well, she was infected by a werewolf at some point, of which I'm not sure, but when we took her to a healer he botched things up." Lina answered as best she could.

Thisbe gasped out loud. "You mean she was human?" She looked over Amelia, checking in her ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. (Much to Amelia's dismay!)

"Yes, we're hoping to find a way to regain her humanity."

"Unfortunately, if you were to try and cure her now, you would only kill her. Maybe if you found an infected human..." Thisbe got lost in thought.

"We did! Uh, sort of." Gourry responded.

"What was that?" Thisbe asked.

"What Gourry was trying to say is that she has been infected, er, again. It happened when we met Lee." Lina said.

"Surely Lee didn't?" Thisbe looked horrified.

"No, it was some bandit-turned-werewolf. He got what was coming to him though." Lina grinned.

Thisbe breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear it. That one was always such a brute! Now then, were there any adverse effects?" 

"Yes, she got seriously ill right after. She's still a bit feverish." Lina said.

"You didn't heal her with magic, did you?" Thisbe questioned.

"What? Well yeah, she had a gaping wound that couldn't be ignored." Lina hated being put on the spot.

"Would that make a difference?" Zelgadis wondered.

"Absolutely. While you're speeding up the healing process, if there are any foreign bodies, such as bacteria, viruses, and whatnot, you speed up their reproduction as well." Thisbe stated matter of factly.

Lina and Zelgadis looked at each other in astonishment.

"In any case, it may have actually helped you." Thisbe said. "All right, that's complete. Are you getting all of this, Heydu?"

Heydu gave a thumbs up and continued writing.

"So what do you think? Can she be helped?" Zelgadis asked.

Thisbe met Zelgadis' gaze. "This isn't heard of, but I think there's hope for her. Now where did I put that book?"

Heydu lept to a bookcase, pulled out a book, and brought it back to Thisbe.

"Why thank you, Heydu! Now then..." Thisbe flipped through the book, Heydu perched on her shoulder, looking as well. "Ah! There. Now then, it says you need Wolfsbane to kill a werewolf, but I think it would also be very effective in purging the wolf from her body." 

Gourry smiled. "Great! ...but where do we get it?"

"It naturally grows in most forested areas. It's too cold up here, but you ought to be able to find it in the lower lands." Thisbe continued to look in the book.

"Then that's where we're headed!" Lina replied.

Thisbe looked up, a serious expression on her face. "I must caution you. Should you give her too much, or at the wrong time, it could be fatal."

Everybody visibly paled.

"How will we know how much to give her, or when?" Zelgadis asked. 

"That I can't help you on. I imagine the best time to give it to her is when she's not in the form of a wolf. Oh, what a great opportunity to gain new knowledge!" Thisbe practically squealed out in excitement.

Amelia was rather put off by Thisbe actions, and slowly crept over to hide behind Lina.

"Now then, was there anything else I could help you with?" Thisbe smiled.

"No, act-" Lina was again cut off, but this time by loud shrieks and squawks coming from outside.

"Oh, those two again! If you'll excuse me, I've got to attend to my pet Gryphons. Feel free to stay here for the night." Thisbe then dashed off to another part of the house.

"Hey thanks!" Gourry called.

Lina and Zelgadis shared a look. What kind of person kept Gryphons as pets?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Later that evening after Thisbe had gone to bed, Lina, Zelgadis, and Gourry were browsing through the vast library of books.(Thisbe's personal collection!) Amelia looked on.

"Ah...so this is what that plant looks like." Lina held up her book and pointed to a picture.

"That looks kind of like Zelgadis' hood." Gourry noted.

"...that's one way to remember it, Gourry." Lina turned to Zelgadis. "Find anything yet, Zel?"

"No, it's always the same thing over and over: 'A Chimera is a three headed beast.'" Zelgadis glared at the book he was reading. 

"How is that supposed to help Amelia?" Lina asked.

Amelia barked at Lina, then looked back to Zelgadis, wagging her tail.

"See, Amelia says I'm justified to pursue my own interests." Zelgadis smirked at Lina.

"Did you actually understand her just now?" Gourry looked at Zelgadis in awe.

"No, it just seemed like what she would say." Zelgadis admitted. 

The group went back to reading.

"Well this looks promising." Gourry cut in.

"What is it?" Lina and Zelgadis both looked to Gourry to go on. 

"It says that werewolves can change form at will."

Lina glanced at Amelia. "You hear that, Amelia?"

Amelia heard it. She immediately willed herself to change back into her human form.

"Wait, there's more! It says that any human that is cursed with ly...lycanthropy can lose their reason the longer they are cursed. What's that mean?" Gourry asked.

"It means that they would lose their sense of right and wrong, who they are, and even possibly what they were." Lina frowned.

This broke Amelia's concentration. She looked worriedly at Lina and whimpered.

"Relax Amelia, that's not going to happen to you. I think that's enough of the books for one night! Let's hit the sack." Lina closed her book.

Amelia wagged her tail happily, then bounded off to where they had laid out their bedrolls.

"That may be what I said, but I'm worried." Lina spoke quietly to Gourry and Zelgadis.

"You don't think Amelia will lose her sense of reason, do you?" Zelgadis asked.

"Not yet, but she's showing signs that she's getting used to being a wolf. We need to find that Wolfsbane, and fast!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The gang all slept soundly, despite having a hard floor underneath them. All was quiet...

And then Amelia heard it.

It was fairly quiet, nothing to be alarmed by, and yet her senses were screaming! Amelia quietly got up from the floor and sniffed about. There was just a hint of something in the air, but it definitely left a trail. Amelia followed the scent...

...right to Lina's pack. At first Amelia was puzzled by this, until she heard the soft squeaking and sounds of gnawing coming from within the pack.

Lina had carelessly tossed her pack to the floor earlier, and the flap that usually covered the top was laying alongside, leaving the top opening exposed. Amelia took the opportunity to stick her head inside. She couldn't see anything, but she could smell the small thing inside, and from all the noise it was making, it knew she was there and blocking it's escape!

Without even thinking Amelia snapped her jaws into the small creature and pulled it out of the pack. She was about to eat it when she realized just what she had done! Horrified, she spat it out of her mouth and skittered back to where the others were still fast asleep.

Amelia was really beginning to frighten herself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Ugh! Nothing like hard floors to make you stiff!" Lina sat up and stretched, trying to get the crick out of her neck.

"It was much better than sleeping outside." Gourry replied.

"True."

"And don't forget, you were the one who left that town so fast. We were lucky that Thisbe is so hospitable." Zelgadis commented.

"Yeah yeah, I hear you. I just wish I had something to eat before we head back out." Lina sighed.

"Isn't that what you have the pack for?" Gourry asked.

"Oh yeah, my pack! I've gotten too used to not planning ahead." Lina admitted sheepishly.

"Some consider that a character flaw." Zelgadis noted.

"Shut up! I didn't ask you." Lina stuck her tongue out at Zelgadis.

"Hey Amelia, you can't sleep forever." Gourry poked at the wolf. 

Amelia just looked at Gourry, then looked away. "Human, I'm human!"

Lina got up and moved to her pack, only to shriek out loud.

Gourry shot up, followed by Zelgadis. "What is it, what's the matter?" Gourry asked.

Lina blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, it just took me by surprise." Lina looked at the little carcass by her pack.

"Don't worry Lina, that little mouse is dead." Gourry smiled.

"How reassuring." Lina rolled her eyes.

"Whatever got it sure did a good job of mutilating it. See, the head's nearly severed." Gourry pointed out.

Lina clutched her stomach in disgust. "Thank you for that, really." Lina smacked Gourry on the head. "What's wrong with you? Do you think I wanted to know that?!"

"Ouch! Sorry!"

Just then Thisbe stepped into the room. "What's all the fuss about?"

"Lina got scared by a mouse." Gourry replied.

"I wasn't scared by it, it just startled me!" Lina elbowed Gourry.

"Oh, we get invaded by mice about this time every year. I really ought to get a cat." Thisbe knelt down and picked up the little body. "Then again...Heydu! Have you decided to be my pest control?"

Heydu shook it's head "no" but then sniffed at the mouse. It sat in thought for a moment before pointing at Amelia.

"Excellent observation, Heydu. After all, wolves will prey on mice." Thisbe stated.

"She's not a wolf! ...not a normal one, anyway." Lina sighed.

Thisbe looked gravelly at Lina. "You must cure her soon, that is all I can say."

"Yes, Lina, we should be on our way." Zelgadis said.

"No breakfast yet again... Not that I could stomach it anyway!" Lina snapped at Gourry.

"I said I was sorry." Gourry shrugged in defeat.

Lina turned back to Thisbe. "Thank you so much for the information and again for letting us crash here for the night."

"Anything for seekers of knowledge. I wish you victory in your search." Thisbe smiled back at Lina.

"Thanks, we'll probably need it." Lina and the others packed up and headed out the door.

"Whoa, look at all the snow!" Gourry looked dumbfounded.

"We should go before it snows any more." Zelgadis said.

"Thanks again, Thisbe, you were a real help." Lina waved good-bye. 

Thisbe waved back until the group was out of sight. then turned to a figure hiding in the shadows.

"You could have said "Hello", you know."

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For any who were curious, Thisbe was the very first character I ever rolled up in Dungeons and Dragons. Her claim to fame was that she was a Thebestan (or a mage who wandered the world in search of new knowledge.) And yes, her name was inspired by the Shakespearian play I was reading in school at the time (Much Ado About Nothing, the part when the workermen put on a play for the nobility) because I am terrible at coming up with new names. She specialized in studying animals (monsters included), and before our campaign died, she had come to own two Gryphon eggs and two Wyvern eggs. (The Gryphons made it in to this story, sort of. Gourry saw one flying.)

Heydu is a Homonculous, or assistant that is usually made from the mage's blood (as seen in the Slayers OVA's when Diol makes all of the Naga copies). Unlike a familiar it has the same intelligence as it's master (in this case, Thisbe), and is more of an assistant. As the D&D book put it, the mage could have a homonculous assistant AND a familiar. I just made up the name Heydu for this story. Back in the day I took German, and du means 'you', so I'd often say "Hey, du!" (I still don't know the German word for hey, but at this point I don't care.)

Also, the figure Thisbe was talking to at the end was her traveling companion, Nulldrin. (An oddity in himself as he is part Dark elf and Wood elf. He tends to keep to himself though.) I really just ought to post up the background story I had to write for Thisbe...

As for reviews...thanks again! Maybe someday I can have a dog of my own so I can have fond memories as well! (As for kids, I grew up in a neighborhood full of them, and quite a few weren't very nice to the neighbor's dog. I don't think it's possible to live in any area free of mean kids.) o_O;;;


	11. Snowbound!

"See? This is why I try to avoid the mountains! They're nothing but trouble!" Lina shouted. She was currently wading in waist-deep snow. 

"You have it better than most." Zelgadis grumbled. He was having a harder time since every step he took buried his leg deep in the snow. (It just didn't pay to be made of stone around water; frozen or not!) 

Amelia also barked out a response. She couldn't walk in the snow, so she bounded forward in the tracks the others left.

"Forget I said anything." Lina sighed, before trudging on. 

Meanwhile, higher up on the mountain a lone figure watched the group.

"She got away with her life once, but not again! Just got to wait for the right moment...okay, that's good enough!"

The man lit a few bombs, then lobbed them down the mountainside, then watched with satisfaction as they detonated.

This did not go unnoticed down below. Hearing the loud noise, Lina's group looked back.

"What was that?" Lina asked.

"Avalanche!!" Gourry yelled.

Everybody ran to get away from the oncoming wave of snow, but the deep snow they were already wading through hindered them. The wave caught up to them in seconds!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When Amelia came to, she was overjoyed to find that she hadn't been buried! True her hind legs and tail were immersed in snow, but after a bit of squirming she broke free. She looked about to find the others, but saw nothing.

Amelia frantically dashed about, hoping to pick on her friends' scent. She finally found where Lina was buried and began digging. 

Lina wasn't too far down, and had been entombed in a pocket of air as well, but she was unconscious. Amelia barked at her, hoping to wake Lina, but she failed. She left Lina to find Gourry and Zelgadis. 

Gourry wasn't too far off, but he was also buried and unconscious. Two down, one to go.

After dashing madly about, Amelia finally picked up on Zelgadis' scent. She dug as fast as she could, realizing that he was buried much deeper than the other two. Just as she reached him, she felt a sharp tug on her collar.

Amelia pulled her head out of the snow and looked around.

"It's time we ended this, don't you think?" The man cracked his club over her head.

All went black...

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As Lina came to, she realized that she was very cold and wet. When she opened her eyes, she was shocked to see all white. "No! I can't have died!" As she wailed, she noticed a 'hole' in the white, and saw the cloudy sky above. She pulled herself out of her snowy tomb and looked around.

"Where is everybody? Gourry? Zelgadis? Amelia?" Lina was answered by a soft moan nearby.

She saw a hole in the snow and looked in. "Gourry, thank goodness! Are you okay?"

Gourry blinked open his eyes. "Lina? Yeah, I just never want to do that again!" Gourry also pulled himself out of the snow. "Where are Zelgadis and Amelia?"

"I don't know."

Gourry looked down into the snow. "Hey, look! Wolf tracks, and I bet they belong to Amelia."

Lina and Gourry followed the tracks until they found Zelgadis. They quickly pulled him out of the snow as well.

"Zelgadis, do you know what happened to Amelia?" Lina shook his shoulder.

Zelgadis rubbed his head, somewhat dazed. "No, I don't. You don't think she's still buried?"

Lina shook her head. "No, we followed her tracks to you."

While Lina interrogated Zelgadis, Gourry glanced around. Something in the snow caused him to gasp. "Lina, look at this!" Gourry pointed to more tracks, but these were obviously human. There was also a wolf-shaped impression in the snow, and to top it all off, muddled dog tracks.

"Why don't these people give up?!" Lina yelled at the sky in anger.

"Come on, we have to find her before it's too late!" Zelgadis saw something buried in the snow, and reached down to pick it up. It was Amelia's leash. Zelgadis gripped it tightly.

"I should have done this in the first place. Gourry, Zel, come here." Lina motioned for the two to stand next to her.

Gourry and Zelgadis complied.

Lina gripped Gourry and Zelgadis' hands as she called out, "Raywing!" and took to the air. They then followed the tracks, hoping to find their companion before it was too late!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Am I good! The boss will be pleased when I give him the good news!" Amelia's abductor praised himself as he rode on his dog sled. He looked down at his captive. "As for you, you'd better do what's expected of you as well!"

Amelia didn't answer as she was still unconscious.

"We made the mistake of getting those others involved, but no way will they find you now!" The man grinned as he cracked a whip at his dogs. "Mush! Gee up there!"

The cold air hitting her helped to awaken Amelia, but her head throbbed so much that she remained still and tried to get her bearings. She was definitely on something that was moving rather fast, and she also discovered that her legs were all bound so she couldn't move very easily. Amelia pondered her options for escape. 

"Yes sir, once I drop you off, I can head back to Seyruun and finally get my pay! Maybe the boss'll even give me another job, with my recent success and all." The man puffed out his chest proudly.

Seyruun?! Amelia's ears perked up at this. She had to get back home as soon as possible! Her father's life could already be in danger...

Amelia opened her eyes to have her suspicions confirmed. She was hog-tied and sitting atop a sled being pulled by a team of dogs. Even so, she had to escape! She struggled to the edge of the sled...

"Hey! When did you wake up? If you don't behave I'll have to konk you again!" 

Closer...closer...

The man cracked his club over Amelia's head again, sending her into oblivion once more. "Good thing I planned ahead. Sure is a stubborn one though."

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"Can't...go...on!" Lina collapsed into the snow.

Zelgadis stood over Lina. "It's no wonder. You wore yourself holding onto that Raywing spell for as long as you did."

"Lina, we can't stop now!" Gourry exclaimed. They had gotten so far, and yet were nowhere near catching up.

"I know, just give me a bit." Lina sighed.

"We don't have time to stop. It's starting to snow again, so the longer we wait, the more snow will fill in the tracks." Gourry gazes to the horizon.

"They were smart to bring a dog sled. Wish I thought of that." Lina continued to lay in the snow.

"I'm serious, Lina." Gourry knelt next to Lina.

"Lina, we need to continue if we're going to have any chance of catching up!" Zelgadis sounded exasperated, watching the ever disappearing tracks.

Lina continued to stare at the sky in a daze.

"Here, you moved me, now let me move you." Gourry reached out for Lina.

"Gourry, what are you...?"

Gourry easily picked up Lina and hoisted her onto his back.

"Are you ever going to stop treating me like a kid?" Lina scowled. 

"Who's treating you like a kid? This is the best way to carry you." Having said so, Gourry set off again.

"Oh well, at least it's a nice view. Faster Gourry, we need to catch up!" Lina urged on Gourry as if he were a horse.

"I'm doing the best I can!"

Zelgadis ignored the two as he followed the trail. Already it was beginning to disappear under the falling snow. "This doesn't bode well, indeed."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It was evening time before Amelia regained her senses. The man had stopped traveling for the night and had already set up camp, his team of dogs not far away. Even now Amelia could hear them growling at her in distrust. (Thankfully they were chained up so they couldn't get to her, much as they wanted to.) 

"Quiet, all of you!"

Amelia looked over to see the man (whom she growled at lightly despite herself) sitting by a small fire cooking his meal. Other than yelling at his dogs, he took no notice of her, more intent to have a decent meal. Amelia wished she could have one too, but at the moment she was unable to move more than her head, so she kept watch over the area, ever hopeful to hear her friends come at any moment.

They never came.

Instead, the man got up from his fire and took some of the food he prepared to his dogs.

"Here, now I don't want to hear another peep out of you tonight! You need to save your energy for the trail tomorrow."

His dogs just barked and wagged their tails happily, then tore into each other as they fought to get a portion of their dinner. 

Amelia watched on, somewhat in disgust, but also because it reminded her of Lina and Gourry's eating matches.

"As for you, Missy." The man tossed a small piece of steak at Amelia's side, thankfully within reach.

Amelia gazed back at him in wonder.

"Don't give me that look. I just don't like seeing animals in distress." The man chuckled at his own comment. "This wasn't quite what I had in mind when I took this job, but the pay's too good to pass up. Nothin' personal, Princess." He gave a slight bow as if in jest before returning to the fire.

Amelia continued to watch the man, confused by his actions, but the meat smelled too good to be ignored. Not smelling anything off about it, she quickly gulped it down before something else came along to snatch it. 

Eventually the man, through with dinner for the night, took out a small box, opened it, and pulled out a small capsule. Amelia watched on in interest.

"How you holding up, Harvey?" The man was silent for a moment. 

"Cold? Well you're the one that didn't listen to me! Let this be a lesson to you." Again he was silent, as if taking to someone and waiting for a response. 

"Here, this ought to make you feel better." The man slipped the small capsule inside his jacket, then put the box away.

Amelia was even more perplexed. The man had to be insane, or very near it! She continued to wait and watch, until the man had gone into his shelter for the night. Only then did Amelia curl up and fall asleep herself.

Just how was she going to get herself out of this one?

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I live! After being slave to the sewing machine for the past week, I am back! (My friends get to run around Acen all pretty like, while I get to stay at home. Sometimes it stinks living on the coast.) In any case, my boredom got me back on track with writing my story, so here you go! I didn't like how short this chapter was (and I actually just wrote up the last part), but I didn't want to start on the next part because it's going to be long! You've been warned. ^_-


	12. Seclusion

Come morning, Amelia was again restrained on the dog sled as it flew down the mountainside. By late afternoon they reached the foot of the mountain and entered the small valley below. Amelia watched on with interest as a small clearing came into view, and in it, a small settlement.

The man let out a huge sigh of relief. "Good, I can finally get rid of excess cargo."

Amelia growled ferociously. She didn't appreciate being thought of that way!

"Save your breath." The man led the dog-team right up to a house, then shoved Amelia into the snow. After securing a rope around her neck, he untied the rope binding her legs. 

"And before you think about running away..." The man grabbed the back loop of the rope around her neck, forcefully leading her up to the front door. He looked about before knocking on the door.

Loud tromping was heard from within, when suddenly the door was practically torn from it's hinges as it was flung open. "For the last time: LEAVE! ME!! ALONE!!!" an older man burst out.

The other man was unfazed. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me, Chet!"

"Eh?" Chet blinked back, then got a closer look at his visitor. "Well well. So Marcus finally decides to show up. Where have you been?"

"I went to the city to get work." Marcus replied.

"Work? Pah! What's wrong with working for me?" Chet asked.

"Better pay, for one." Marcus grumbled under his breath. "Anyway Chet, I really came by to give you something. I hear you lost another guard dog?"

"Dang blasted mutt had it comin' to him. I did warn him." Chet growled.

"Maybe this one'll work better?" Marcus pulled Amelia to the door. 

"You brought me a wolf? What kind of sick joke is this?" Chet bellowed in anger.

"Wolf? Hardly. She's nothing but a lot of bad breeding."

Amelia growled dangerously at Marcus.

"Ooh, pretty lively one at that. Maybe she'll do after all." Chet sized up his new 'guard dog'.

"Excellent. Now that that's settled, I have to be moving on. Oh, and if she doesn't work out, don't feel obliged to keep her on my part. There's plenty more where that one came from." Marcus gestered at the wolf.

"Have I ever before? Now lead her over to the dog house. I've no need of a house pet." Chet replied.

Marcus nodded in consent, then dragged Amelia to a small dog house in the front yard. Chet attached a choke-chain collar around her neck, finishing it off with a strong chain to keep her chained to the dog house.

"After all, a chained dog makes for a better guard!" Chet grinned. 

"Yes, now I've got to go and take care of my dogs." Marcus started to sneak off. "Take care, Chet."

"Thanks for stopping by!" Chet called to the retreating man, and watched as he left. "Ingrate."

Chet looked down to Amelia. "And as for you, I have certain expectations that must be kept. See that fence behind you?"

Amelia turned to look.

Chet continued, "That would be my livestock, my livelihood, not to mention LIFE. Your job is to protect them from the wolves. Mangy scoundrels always raid my chickens and calves, but I'm on to them. See that back wall?"

Again Amelia turned to see what he was pointing out, but this time she nearly gagged.

Chet grinned. "On it is the skin of every wolf I caught killing my livestock. Now see the wall across from that? Those'd be all of the guard dogs that failed to protect my livestock. You'll join 'em if even one of my animals is harmed. Do I make myself clear?"

This man was absolutely mad! Amelia could only stare back at him. 

"You'd better not fail me." Chet gave one last look at the shocked wolf before walking back into his house.

Amelia prayed that Lina would find her, and soon!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"So how's the new recruit holding up?"

Amelia looked up to her new 'owner' and cringed. 

She had already been trapped in this horrid place for three days. She was beginning to tolerate the smell of her shelter, but still longed for the day when she could smell clean air again! (The previous tenant either had a weak bladder, or...died while still in it.) Then there was Chet's 'livelihood'; listening to the cows and chickens all day was beginning to unnerve her, and since she was chained, she couldn't get away for even a moment of peace!

Amelia halfheartedly thumped her tail, turning her head away in disgust.

Chet burst out into laughter. "Glad to hear it! Now then, I want to be sure you stick around for a while, so here." Chet placed a bowl just outside of the doghouse.

Amelia tried not to gag. The worst part about this place was the 'food' that he kept trying to feed her! It looked to be all of the unwanted scraps from his slaughters; the mere thought sickened her. She knew Chet wouldn't leave until she accepted her meal, so she pretended to be interested in it. She sniffed at it, but recoiled at the smell.

"What'sa matter, still not good enough for ya? Well tough. You better learn to like it, because it's all I'm givin' you. ...unless you'd prefer to dine on wolf." Chet grinned as he looked to the setting sun.

"Well, I've got chores to attend to before I hit the sack, not that you're smart enough to understand me." Chet ambled off to the barn.

Amelia cocked her ears back in anger. The nerve! If she could, she would have given him "the Justice Speech to End All Justice Speeches", but in her current situation that was impossible. She opted to growl at his retreating form instead.

She turned to her "supper" again, but turned away in disgust. She crawled into her doghouse to spend another night, trying her best to ignore her stomach's plea for nourishment. It still smelled horrible inside, but it did help her forget her hunger, and it did provide shelter from the elements. Amelia began to doze off.

A slight noise from outside the doghouse startled her awake. Amelia stayed silent, using her keen ears and nose to figure out what was out there.

A rabbit!

Amelia's heart lept, as her mouth began to water thinking of the succulent creature right outside her doghouse. What luck! Amelia listened as it slowly approached. 

Closer...closer...closer...

The rabbit hopped right by the entrance. Amelia wasn't going to take any chances and lept out, startling the rabbit before she crushed it's neck in her teeth. The taste of blood in her mouth satisfied her animal instincts, as she tore into her fresh kill.

A short while later nothing remained, other than a few scraps of skin and fur. Amelia was a bit ashamed of what she had done, but she quickly forgot it as her stomach was at last at peace. She carried the remains behind her doghouse and dug a hole in the snow, dropping the rabbit inside. She then went to retrieve the bowl, and dumped it's contents into the hole as well. Amelia then buried everything under the snow again.

She checked to make sure everything was hidden, fearing what would happen if Chet discovered what she had been doing with the food he gave her. With any luck Amelia would be out of here before the snow melted, and wouldn't face his wrath.

Her dirty deed done, Amelia went back into her doghouse and curled up, intent on actually getting sleep. As she settled down, a faraway call rang in her ears. Amelia perked up, listening in hopes of hearing it again.

It was the howling of a wolf.

As she listened, other wolves joined in with the first. Amelia envied them, able to roam free and together while she was seperated from her own pack, and held against her will. She began to yearn for freedom, even to join up with the wolves. Surely being with them was better than dying here?

Amelia let out a mournful howl, then waited.

They heard her! Amelia wagged her tail happily, then let out another howl. From the response she got, the pack was far away from her location, but they were coming. Amelia was giddy. Freedom may come sooner than she had expected!

Light suddenly shone across the front yard. Amelia looked at the house to see it was coming from the front window. She could just make out Chet's shape as he peered out. She just looked at him. After a moment of silence the light winked out, and the yard grew dark once more.

The sudden intrusion made Amelia realize her plan wasn't foolproof. The wolves would have no way of freeing her, and she'd only put their lives in danger if they came. Amelia slumped down in frustration. Meddling human...wait! That's it! Perhaps Amelia could ask the wolves to relay a message to her friends, and THEY could come and free her?

Amelia wagged her tail happily as she continued to devise a plan...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"How long is this going to take? It's been a week already!" Lina tore angrily into her food.

"It wouldn't be taking so long if we didn't keep coming back to town every night." Zelgadis was just as aggravated as Lina, even if he didn't show it.

"Oh, so you'd rather freeze at night?" Lina quipped.

"No, but we're going to have to set out farther if we ever hope to find Amelia!" Zelgadis shot back. 

"Yeah, she sure isn't coming to us." Gourry agreed.

Lina's shoulders slumped as she set down her fork, averting her eyes from her companions. "She isn't, is she?"

Gourry noted the change in Lina's mood and tried to reassure her. "Don't worry Lina, we'll find her."

"We'd better make it soon. Who knows where she is now?" Zelgadis added.

Lina stood up, a look of resolve on her face. "No time like the present, then."

"What, are we leaving?" Gourry asked.

"Yes, after we get a new tent -or two- and warm blankets." Lina replied.

"Wow, who's going to pay for all of this?" Gourry pondered.

"Let's just say I expect to get a huge reward from Phil for all of this." Lina grinned slightly. "A very huge reward."

"You're hopeless." Zelgadis groaned.

As the three stepped outside of the restaurant, Zelgadis looked up into the night sky. As he gazed at the moon, a lone wolf howled off in the distance.

"Did you two hear that?" Zelgadis asked.

"Hear what?" Lina glanced back at Zelgadis.

Zelgadis shushed her as he heard it again. "There, there it was again."

"Well what was it?" Lina didn't like being left in the dark.

"I heard a wolf howl just now." Zelgadis replied.

"Which way did it come from?" Gourry asked.

"Definitely south." Zelgadis pointed where he thought he had heard it from.

"Sounds like as good a lead as any. Let's get our gear and head that way!" Lina pumped her fist.

Zelgadis gave a small smile, hoping beyond hope that that had been Amelia just now, and hoping that they'd reach her in time. He then ran to catch up with Lina and Gourry.

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Amelia paced about her prison. Three weeks. For three weeks she had survived in this horrid place, afraid to sleep at night should intruders ever come. Then there was the urge. It had been silent at first, but as time wore on it grew louder and more persistant, urging her to give in to it's wolfish desires. Amelia had tried her best to keep it at bay, but it had helped her to survive. She was beginning to rely on it more and more...

Amelia looked to her newest plan of escape. For the past week she had waited, and at long last she had acquired a piece of parchment. It did her little good at the moment, but soon that would change. 

She looked up into the sky. At last the sun was setting. As if on cue Chet came and delivered her food, then left. Just in time, as the moon was beginning to come out. She crawled back into the doghouse and waited.

Within moments the burning sensation washed over her. Amelia grit her teeth, willing herself to not cry out with the pain she felt. She knew she had succeeded when she felt a cold rush of air hit her now naked body. Shivering, Amelia pulled her rug over her now human body. She had to work fast!

Amelia pulled out the parchment and a small twig she had found. Now she just needed some kind of ink to write with... Amelia's hands were beginning to go numb from the cold. An idea! She hated to do it, but didn't have any choice. Amelia ran her left index finger along one of her canines. The sharp tooth easily cut it, blood pooling to the surface. Amelia cringed at the sight, but set to work. Quickly she scrawled a distress note as best she could.

Her hands began to ache from the cold. At last Amelia finished! As she waited for it to dry, Amelia removed the collar from around her neck. She then rolled up the parchment and wrapped the collar around it. Now all she needed was a messenger. That would have to wait another night. For now, Amelia had to focus on staying warm just to survive the night.

She had already started to build a wall of snow to cover the entrance earlier in the day, now she just needed to finish it. Amelia grabbed snow from outside the doghouse and built up the wall until it nearly sealed off the door. (Much as she hated to leave a small hole, she still needed fresh air to live.) Amelia cried silently as the cold snow stung her hands. This had been so much easier when she was covered in fur... When she was finished she rubbed her hands together until she could feel them again. She then pulled the rug close around her and curled up in a fetal position...

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Man, this part sure took longer than I expected it to, mainly because I had to rewrite a lot of it. (You've got to love when you get inspired to make it better _after_ you've already written down the parts that need to be changed.) Sorry if this chapter was a bit more graphic than before, there just isn't a nice way of killing and eating food! I had intended to also include the next part, but I have to dash off to work for the rest of the day (working Satuerday evenings stinks!) I'll try and have it up as soon as possible. Now to see if Amelia can survive the night...


	13. Happy Reunion?

The night seemed to stretch on into eternity, but finally daylight streaked through the darkness. Amelia gave a small cry of joy, but was cut off by the burning pain. With the Sun's arrival, the Moon's light was diminished, and with it the curse. Amelia welcomed the change as she was nearly frozen, but also feared it. She wasn't sure how intact she would be the next time.

The burning pain finally gone, Amelia curled up as tight as she could to keep in as much warmth as possible, then slipped off into unconsciousness...

As she slept, she dreamed that she was free, dashing through the snow. At first she was alone, but she was quickly joined by other wolves who howled in joy at her arrival. She too was overjoyed to see them, and followed them away from her prison, and deep into the mountains, their howls resounding in the hills.

Amelia finally woke up, yawned, and looked out of her prison (knocking down the snow wall so she could so so.) She could still hear howling faintly. She shook her head to fully wake up. She was startled to realize that she could still hear howling, and even worse, it was getting closer!

Amelia crept out of her doghouse and looked about, only then noticing how dark it was out. She looked to the main house, fearing that Chet might hear. So far the house was dark. Amelia gave a small sigh of relief, turning back to where she had last heard the wolves. 

Three shadows came into view, quickly making their way right to her! Amelia decided to take action.

"Please, if you value your lives, come no closer!" She barked. 

The three wolves stopped in their tracks and looked to each other in confusion. The middle one then took charge and approached Amelia. 

"Were you the one we heard howling?" he asked.

"Yes, I was. I didn't think I'd get a response though." Amelia answered a bit sheepishly.

"What else were we to do? You sounded as if you were in trouble, so we came to see if we could help." The leader walked over to her doghouse, and sniffed at the chain binding her to it.

"Please, leave it be! If he finds out that I escaped...and should my friends come and not find me..." Amelia's ears drooped. 

"Any human that would treat a creature like this should be punished." The leader replied, growling.

"Yeah, let's take out some of his calves!" One of the other wolves spoke up.

"Idiot, they're too protected! We should go after the chickens instead." Grinned the other.

"No, you can't! He'll only kill you if you do!" Amelia cried out in fright.

The leader growled at the other two to be quiet. "Please forgive them, they are still young, and have never encountered this human before." He glanced at the house and snarled.

"You do, don't you?" Amelia asked.

"All too well. He killed my mother while I was still young. He got my father after he went seeking vengeance." The leader stated.

Amelia could only gasp in horror. "Then why did you come here?" 

"As I said, we heard a distress call, and came to see what we could do. We'd not leave one of our own to die here. I wouldn't mind hurting him as he has me..." 

"I'm grateful to you, but you can't sacrifice yourself like this. He'll wake soon, and I'd not want your death on my head. You should leave while you can." Amelia replied. "And should you die, what will become of your pack?"

"We're already starving as is." stated one of the wolves.

"Silence! We didn't come here to burden her with our problems!" The leader snapped, then turned back to face Amelia. "Would you truly want to stay here until you die? The human has a reputation of killing his guards more often than keeping them. I'm surprised that you still live, despite how long it's been since we first heard you." 

"No, I do not plan on dying here! My friends will come for me, I just know it!" Amelia tried to sound hopeful.

"We didn't see any other wolves around, Ma'am." replied a wolf. 

"Oh, well, they aren't wolves. They're humans." Amelia saw the strange look the other wolves gave her. "Er, good humans! I was taken from them by force; they must be worried sick about me."

"Say, we did see three humans a day ago." replied the other wolf. 

"Where?" Amelia nearly tackled the poor pup in her excitement. 

"Up over those hills," he motioned behind him, "but they were going to other direction."

"Oh no, Miss Lina..." Amelia whined.

The leader's ears perked up. "Lina? As in Lina Inverse?"

"THE Lina Inverse?" chorused the other two in wonder.

"Yes, but how do you know of her?" Amelia replied, a bit mystified by their reaction.

"Shortly before I gained control over my pack, we were captured by humans. Bandits, she called them. They used us to gain control over those they robbed, against our will. When I thought all was lost, Lina Inverse came and freed us from our enslavers!" The leader replied.

"She's a hero to us!" yipped a wolf happily.

Amelia wagged her tail happily. No doubt Lina had attacked the bandits for their loot, not for mistreating nature, but she wasn't about to say anything!

"You travel with her?" asked the other.

"Yes, she's a very good friend of mine." Amelia replied.

"Surely we cannot leave a friend of Lina Inverse's to a fate such as this!" The leader barked.

"You don't have to, if you bring her here!" Amelia said.

"How'd we do that? She can't understand us." whined a wolf.

"Actually, you won't have to talk to her." Amelia ducked into the doghouse and came out with her letter. She set it in front of the leader. "Just give this to her."

The leader sniffed at the collar/letter, then picked it up in his teeth. "We will do so at once! Come, you two." The leader, realizing he was alone, looked about.

Amelia too looked to see where the others had gone, then spied them behind her doghouse, digging in the snow. "What are you doing?" 

"Something's in here. It smells good!" replied the first.

"Yeah, and our pack hasn't been able to find much food the past month." whined the second.

Of course! They had found where Amelia buried the 'food' Chet gave her each night.

"What are you two up to? We have a job to do!" The leader barked. 

"Sir, I'm very grateful for you doing this for me. If this food can help your pack, please take it with you." Amelia smiled.

"All right!" The two wolves uncovered their prize and dug in.

"But what will you eat?" the leader asked.

"I'll manage, especially if you direct Miss Lina and my friends here as soon as possible." Amelia replied.

"You truly are as great as Lina Inverse." the leader bowed to Amelia, then shoved the younger wolves away from the food. "Know your manners!" he barked.

Amelia sat back and watched as they ate, and after bidding them farewell, watched as they disappeared into the surrounding forest. She yearned to go with them, but dreaded that if she did, she may never regain her humanity. Amelia crawled back into her doghouse, waiting for the hour that she would see her friends again.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"I hate traveling in snow, it's so easy to get lost." Lina complained.

"At least we don't have to starve." Gourry tore into his rations. 

"Not yet, but we'll have to head back to town eventually." Lina replied.

Zelgadis sat and sipped his rapidly cooling mug of tea. He looked out into the surrounding forest, nearly dropping his drink. "Lina!" 

"Huh?" Lina turned and saw it too. Wolves were approaching.

"What do you think they want? We don't have any food for them." Gourry shook his now empty food sack.

"Hey, you were supposed to save some of that!" Lina smacked Gourry.

"Lina, they're getting closer." Zelgadis tried to bring Lina back to the present dilemma.

"What should we do?" Gourry asked.

Lina watched the approaching trio. As they got nearer, two of the wolves stopped, leaving the third to continue on by itself. Lina noticed it was carrying something in it's mouth. "Hey, that looks like..."

"Lina?" Zelgadis asked.

"Relax guys, I'll handle this." Lina stood and took a few steps away from her traveling companions, and toward the wolf.

When he was five feet away, the wolf dropped what he was carrying onto the snow, then rejoined his companions. 

Lina continued to watch the wolf as she stepped forward and picked up what had been dropped. She looked at it and gasped.

"What is it, Lina?" Zelgadis asked, still keeping a wary eye on the wolves.

"It's Amelia's collar. There's something here." Lina pulled out the parchment. "Help, I'm trapped. Come soon. Amelia." Lina read. "You found Amelia?" Lina looked to the wolves.

The leader met gazes with Lina, then turned and looked to where he had come from.

"Guys, I know where Amelia is. Come on!"

Gourry and Zelgadis quickly packed up, and stood next to Lina. 

Lina looked back to the wolf. "Thank you."

The wolf bowed low, then motioned to his companions. The three then melted back into the forest.

"That was weird." Zelgadis commented.

"Yes, I'll have to ask Amelia about it later. Now come on!" Lina took off down the path indicated, followed shortly by Gourry and Zelgadis.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Is that it?" Gourry asked.

"There's not much else around here except trees, so looks like we made it. I don't see any sign of Amelia though, do you?" Lina peeked out of the forest and into the farm in the clearing.

"Let's get closer." Zelgadis urged.

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis made their way out of the forest and into the clearing...

***********Amelia had spent most of the day waiting, but eventually got tired and dozed off. She was sleeping soundly until she heard, among other things, breaking branches from the outer laying forest. Looking up, she was happy to see her long lost companions coming toward her. She ran out to meet them...

***********

As Lina exited the trees, she was startled by a furry blur rushing straight at her. Lina also noticed said blur was attached to a chain, and sure enough, the chain grew taught, stopping the blur in it's tracks. No longer moving, it didn't take Lina long to figure out what had dashed out at her.

"Amelia!" Lina exclaimed.

"Amelia?" Zelgadis couldn't believe his eyes. The creature looked too bedraggled up to be Amelia..

"It has to be, but she looks pretty beat up." Lina replied.

They ran to the gasping creature's side who, sure enough, was Amelia.

"Amelia! We looked everywhere for you! We-phew, you need a bath." Lina plugged her nose in disgust.

Amelia happily barked in reply, her tail wagging so hard it looked like it would fall off.

"Hey, what's all the racket?"

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis looked to see a large man standing on the porch of the house. Amelia growled silently at him.

"I see now." Lina got an evil grin, then quickly donned a more pathetic look as she dashed up to the man. "Oh thank you, thank you, kind sir!" Lina teared up a bit, just for effect. "I've been looking everywhere for my poor stolen puppy!" Lina sniffled.

"What? Stolen? But..." Chet tried to sort himself out.

"Yes, some big bad man stole her from me!" Lina was really wailing now, then turned joyful. "Thank you so much for finding and taking care of her!"

Chet glanced nervously at Lina. "Uh, it was no trouble, little girl."

Lina frowned at that, but quickly covered it up with a cheesy smile. "I'll be taking my puppy now. She needs some serious loving after going through that awful experience!"

"But what'll I do to keep wolves off of my property?" This was too much for Chet to process!

Lina gasped in fright at the thought. "Wolves, sir? I haven't seen or heard any of those awful beats around here at all!" 

Chet scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It has been quiet, but I figured that mutt was doing her job."

Lina frowned in disgust. She glanced back to see if Gourry and Zelgadis were done freeing Amelia, then smiled, seeing them waiting for her. "Thanks again, sir! We'll be going now!" Lina took off back into the forest, followed by Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia.

"Wait!"

Too late. Chet scratched his head as he watched the four run off. "Strange city folk..."

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Amelia had been "talking" non-stop since her rescue, glad to be back among her friends.

"It's okay, we missed you too!" Lina ruffled Amelia's fur.

Gourry and Zelgadis smiled. Now that the group was back together they could finally continue their journey.

"So Lina, where to now?" Gourry asked.

"Back to town, of course! We've got to clean up, eat good food, and get rested so we can finally end this!" Lina pointed her finger skyward in a dramatic fashion.

Amelia barked in agreement. She would definitely appreciate good food again!

They spent the rest of the day trekking back to town, arriving just after sunset.

"We've been here too long; I'm beginning to think of it as home." Lina laughed to herself.

"Lina, you don't really want to settle here, do you?" Gourry asked in a serious tone.

Lina waved it off. "No way! It's too small of a town. Not nearly enough going on to keep me happy."

"Not to mention the food..." Zelgadis baited Lina.

"Don't even get me started! Sure it's good enough to be edible, but I couldn't live off of it forever! I have very refined tastes." Lina winked.

"It tastes just fine to me." Gourry commented.

"You really need to get out more." Lina sighed.

Just then the inn came into view.

"Ah, home away from home. Time to go unthaw ourselves, eh guys?" Lina grinned. She couldn't wait to leave the cold behind.

"We get to eat too, right?" Gourry nearly pleaded.

"Of course! But first I'm going to give you a bath." Lina pointed at Amelia. "No offense, but you'd spoil my appetite."

Amelia flattened her ears back, but let the comment slide.

The group finally entered the inn, and made their way to their rooms.

"We'll see you two later." Lina waved to Gourry and Zelgadis, then headed down the hall to the bath house.

"So now what?" Gourry turned to Zelgadis.

"We may as well follow suit. It was rather cold out there." Zelgadis replied.

The two men ambled down to their end of the bath house as well, ready to leave the day behind them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Now hold still, Amelia, I'm just taking some extra precaution." Lina, clad in only a towel, tied a small cord around Amelia's muzzle so she couldn't open her mouth.

Amelia tried to struggle, but Lina was too quick! Her jaw now immobile, Amelia could only whine her distress at being treated in such a way.

Lina ignored her. "Now then, time to move on!" Lina picked up a bucket of warm water and poured it over Amelia until she was soaking wet. "Ugh, that's awful! Just what did that guy make you sleep in? Never mind, let's just undo it."

Lina took some shampoo and slathered it all over the drenched wolf. She then began to lather it up.

"Dang, I can feel your ribs poking out! Didn't he feed you anything?"

Amelia started to wretch just thinking about it, but was able to regain her composure.

"If it's that bad, I'd rather not know! Don't worry, we'll have you good as new." Lina dumped another bucket of water over Amelia to rinse her off.

"Ugh, the smell's still there! I'm going to need more shampoo..." 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Why is it girls take so long to clean up? Is there some unwritten rule?" Gourry sighed, drumming his fingers on the table in boredom. 

Zelgadis snapped to attention. "Oh, did you say something?"

Gourry looked to see what had been distracting Zelgadis, and smiled. "Looking at the local girls?"

Zelgadis blushed in embarrassment. "No, of course not. That waitress just keeps looking at me. I was just nervous, that's all." 

"About what? It looks like she's smiling at you to me." Gourry replied.

"Exactly! Why can't she mind her own business?" Zelgadis crossed his arms in a huff. 

"Probably because it's not everyday someone as...exotic as you comes through town." Lina grinned. She and Amelia had just come down to join the others for dinner.

"Lina!" Gourry smiled.

"Lina?" Zelgadis choked.

"Seriously though, if she knew what a jerk you were you can bet she wouldn't give you a second glance." Lina winked.

"Gee, how thoughtful you are." Zelgadis slumped down in his seat in a sulk.

"Hey, just giving you the female perspective." Lina sat down next to Gourry. "Right, Amelia?"

Amelia didn't respond. Instead she padded over to Zelgadis' side, and nudged him with her nose. When he looked down at her, she wagged her tail happily.

"You really need to stop sticking up for him." Lina sighed. 

"Just goes to show not all women think alike." Zelgadis smirked. He pat Amelia gently on the head.

The waitress finally came around to their table. "Are you all ready to order?"

"You bet! I'll take the A meal, double portions." Lina grinned hungrily.

Amelia propped her front feet on the table's edge so she could see over it.

"Oh miss, please keep your dog off the table! We want to keep up a good reputation." The waitress shooed Amelia off the table.

Amelia gave the waitress a hurt look, but dropped back down to the floor.

Lina paused for a moment (still busily looking at the menu), but then continued. "Oh, and bring out an order of salad as well."

"B meal for me, double portions as well!" Gourry called out.

The waitress scribbled quickly on her note pad to keep up. "And you, sir?"

"An order of chicken is fine for me, and some tea would be nice." Zelgadis gazed at his menu, not making eye contact with the waitress. 

"Of course, sir. I'll get it ready for you now." The waitress caught Zelgadis glancing at her and gave him a quick wink, then retreated to the kitchen.

"Yeah, she likes you." Gourry stated matter-of-fact.

"Too bad you'll have to break her heart when we leave, eh Zel?" Lina elbowed Zelgadis jokingly.

"Just leave me alone." Zelgadis pouted.

Amelia just stared at the door the waitress had gone through. She lay her ears back and growled softly.

"I'll be glad to get out of this place to somewhere warmer." Lina shivered.

"Where are we going to go, anyway?" Zelgadis asked.

"Down to the foothills, for starters. We need to find some Wolfsbane still." Lina replied.

"And Seyruun?" Zelgadis continued.

"I'm trying to put that off as long as possible. I don't want to be the one to break the bad news to Phil!" Lina shuddered.

"Yeah, who knows what he'll do to you?" Gourry added.

"Me? You're in on this too, Gourry!" Lina scolded.

"Oh yeah."

Lina heard the waitress returning. "Enough talk, the food's here!" Lina grinned happily waiting for the waitress to arrive.

"All right. Here's the A meal, double portions, for you miss, along with the salad," the waitress placed the order down in front of Lina, "the B meal, also double portions," she set another in front of Gourry, "and your order of chicken and tea, sir." the waitress set down Zelgadis' order and smiled at him.

Zelgadis stammered uncomfortably.

That did it! Amelia couldn't stand it any longer! No way was that human going to steal Zelgadis away! Amelia snarled as she lept between Zelgadis and the waitress. The waitress gasped in fright and fell backward onto the floor. Amelia started to advance on the fallen waitress, but Zelgadis grabbed her by the collar and held her back. 

The whole thing happened in a matter of seconds.

Lina and Gourry watched on in shock, then Lina lept to her feet and to the waitress' side.

"I'm so sorry! She's just very protective of Zelgadis. I should have warned you!" Lina helped the waitress up.

"O-of course."The waitress backed away. "I'll come give you your bill l-later." The waitress dashed back into the kitchen.

Amelia continued to snarl and was all bristled up as she watched the waitress flee.

Lina stomped over angrily to Amelia. "What was that all about?" 

Amelia stared right through her, still snarling.

Lina smacked Amelia across the side of her face. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Amelia yelped in surprise, but quickly realized Lina was standing right in front of her. She realized what she had been doing and looked sheepishly at Lina.

"That's more like it. I thought you knew better, Amelia. Even given the circumstances!" Lina scolded.

"Lina!" Gourry whispered loudly, "This isn't the place!"

Lina looked around the room to see the other patrons looking at her. "Er, sorry folks. Everything's under control!" Lina crept back to her seat.

The meal was very subdued after that. The group ate quickly, then headed up to their rooms. Needless to say, they left a very large tip!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Lina paced about her room, too mad to speak. Amelia was hiding in the corner, hoping to avoid Lina's wrath. She had the urge to bite Lina and flee, but she quickly shook that idea out of her head. That would only make things worse!

Finally Lina let out a small scream of frustration, took a deep breath, and plopped down onto her bed. "Look. I know this has got to be hard on you, but you've got to contain those wolfish habits! I understand why you did what you did down there, but you've got to stop! If you don't, you're bound to go too far, and then..." Lina slapped her hands together, "there goes your reason, and you with it!"

Lina kicked off her boots angrily, getting ready for bed. "Just remember that, Amelia. We're going to cure you, but we need you to stay in control so you'll still be here to be cured."

Amelia lowered her head, but continued to watch as Lina got into bed, then struggled to get some sleep. She knew Lina was right, these thoughts and feelings were to be avoided! ...but more and more they appealed to her. Amelia curled up in the corner and fell into a troubled sleep.

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Time to keep my excuse short and sweet: pair together new video games (Golden Sun 2, and Lufia for GBA) with the dread of rewriting, and you have this chapter! (Seriously, I was avoiding the rewrite for the first part of the chapter for as long as possible! I'm just hoping it works...it's better than what it was, but I still don't like it. Oh well.)

Also one more thing for anyone who visits my web site: I just changed servers (the URL is still the same), but I haven't been able to update with the new one. I'm rather frustrated because I tried to update and was able to upload new files, but they aren't showing up. I'm hoping to figure out the problem soon, so don't think I'm ignoring you. (I'm hating not being able to update!)

As for the next chapter...it's not going to be a happy one, and things are going to continue going downhill from here. (I'm still not quite sure how this will all end, mind you.) Comments, questions, criticisms, etc. are more than welcome!


	14. When Princesses Attack!

"Miss Lina? Mister Gourry? Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia wandered through a forest, separated from the group. Fog was settling in, making it harder for her to see where she was going.

"Where is everyone?" Amelia was near tears.

A noise in the nearby thicket caught her attention.

"Miss Lina?" Amelia stepped cautiously closer to the source of the sound.

Instead of her companion, a huge snarling wolf jumped out at her! Amelia gasped and fell backward, but caught herself before she hit the ground. In a quick motion she sidestepped the wolf, then cast a spell.

"Burst Flare!"

Nothing happened! Amelia gasped in shock, scrambling out of the way as the wolf lunged at her again. Amelia turned and fled, looking for a safe haven.

The wolf pursued after her.

"Miss Lina! Mister Gourry! Mister Zelg-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Amelia screamed as the wolf bit into her leg, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Help me, PLEASE!!" Amelia, beyond hysterical, screamed for all she was worth.

The wolf pounced on her neck. Amelia let out one last blood-curdling scream as the wolf bit into her throat, silencing her cries forever...

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"GAH!" Zelgadis shot straight up in bed. His heart beat rapidly as he tried to catch his breath.

"Uh? What'sa matter?" Gourry was startled out of sleep.

Zelgadis looked about trying to orient himself. It was a dream...he was still in his room, now with a puzzled Gourry looking at him with concern.

"Zelgadis? Everything okay?" Gourry yawned.

Zelgadis relaxed back into his bed. "Yes, sorry. It was just a bad dream."

"Well it's over now so you can go back to sleep." Gourry lay back down and resumed snoring.

A dream...but what had happened to scare him so badly? Whatever it was, it left a horrible sense of dread.

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RATTLE! RATTLE! RATTLE!

Lina rolled over in her sleep.

SCRITCH! SCRATCH! SCRITCH!

"Mm..go 'way." Lina was not about to wake up.

RATTLE! RATTLE! ...CREEEAK...

Sleep suddenly was the last thing on Lina's mind. _That couldn't have been a good sound._ Lina lifted her head off of her pillow and looked about the room. Her eyes picked up on the door. The door that was currently open. Lina looked about to have her fears confirmed: the room was empty!

Lina cried out in alarm as she shot out of bed. In her haste she got tangled in the bed sheets and fell onto the floor in a heap.

************

"I still think you're worrying about nothing. Did you really have to get up so early?" Gourry yawned tiredly.

"If you had seen what I saw, you would be wide awake too." Zelgadis grumped. He hadn't exactly wanted to wake up before sunrise either!

"Yeah, I guess." Gourry was too tired to put up much of a fight.

"Shh!" Zelgadis hushed Gourry. "Did you hear that?"

Zelgadis and Gourry were silent as they strained their ears to hear.

WHUMP!

"Lina's awake." Gourry noted.

"She doesn't sound very thrilled." Zelgadis added.

"Think we should go check on her?"

"May as well." Zelgadis sighed.

The two men left their room and crossed the hall over to Lina's. 

"The door's open. That can't be good." Gourry poked his head in. "Lina?"

Lina was hopping about the room in an attempt to get dressed quickly. "Don't just stand there! Go after her!"

Gourry and Zelgadis blinked in confusion. They realized what Lina meant just as they heard a scream.

"Amelia!"

Zelgadis took off down the hall, toward the source of the scream. After Lina finally got the rest of her clothes on, she and Gourry followed.

When Zelgadis got to the bottom of the stairs, he found an old woman seated on the floor clutching her chest.

"What happened?" Zelgadis asked.

"I wa-was just stepping out, when this monstrous wolf charged at me! It knocked me aside and ran out the door." The old woman caught her breath, then looked up to see who she was talking to. She screamed again, and scooted away as fast as she could. "DEMON!!"

Zelgadis panicked and ran out of the inn! He quickly lowered his hood over his face as he looked for Amelia.

There! Zelgadis spotted Amelia dashing away at top speed and gave chase.

"Amelia, stop! Where are you going?" Zelgadis could see she was hearing him, so why was she still running?

Zelgadis continued to chase Amelia, until she dashed into an alley, only to find a dead end!

"Come on Amelia, stop this! What's wrong?" Zelgadis gasped as the wolf turned to face him.

Amelia snarled viscously at him, a yellow gleam in her eyes. As Zelgadis approached, she bared her teeth, snarling louder, and laying her ears flat against her head.

"Amelia, it's me, Zelgadis." he cautiously stepped closer.

If Amelia recognized him, she didn't show it. She became more agitated as he approached, then finally lashed out at him, clamping her jaws down on his arm.

Zelgadis grit his teeth. He didn't feel any pain since the wolf's sharp teeth couldn't pierce through his skin, but he knew he could cause Amelia serious harm if he jerked his arm away. He also didn't want her getting away, so he gripped her collar with his free arm. 

Amelia growled at him, but held fast.

"Amelia, you can't give in to this. Think about what you're doing!" Zelgadis pleaded.

"Sleeping!"

Zelgadis looked up in time to see Lina leap down from the rooftop, and tap Amelia's forehead. Zelgadis saw the wolf fight to stay awake, but the spell was too strong. Just before she succumbed entirely, her eyes returned to their normal blue hue. 

Zelgadis saw what looked to be a tear trickle out of the corner of her eye, then the wolf collapsed into a heap.

"You okay?" Lina asked Zelgadis.

"I'm just fine." Zelgadis frowned as he freed his arm from the wolf's slack jaws.

"What's the matter?"

Zelgadis looked at Lina. "We need to get her to Seyruun, now." 

Lina could see the fear in Zelgadis' eyes, not needing any further explanation.

"Hey Lina, why'd you leave me behind?" Gourry yelled from the rooftop.

Zelgadis continued to give Lina a serious look, then knelt down to gather up the sleeping wolf.

Lina looked up at Gourry, who was now climbing down the side of the building as best he could. "Gourry, be-"

Gourry lost his grip and fell the rest of the way to the ground, landing on his feet. He cringed from the sudden impact.

"Never mind." Lina shook her head as she walked over to Gourry. "You okay, Gourry?"

Gourry rubbed his feet for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you, Zelgadis?"

"Yes, but Amelia won't be if we don't hurry." Zelgadis sounded deadly serious.

"We will, Zel, after we take an extra precaution." Lina countered. 

"What kind of precaution?" Gourry asked.

"We were lucky that Amelia decided to take a bite out of Zel. I want to make sure she doesn't try to sample anyone else." Lina replied.

"What do you mean?" Gourry blinked.

"Just come on." Lina led the somber group out of the alley.

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Man, I was hoping to make this chapter much longer, but...Writer's Block has struck! That, and our cherry tree decided to produce a TON of fruit this year, so I've spent the past week up a tree. (The joys of living in the country. At least I like these kind of cherries! -Not to be confused with pie cherries. *gag*) I actually have a very good idea of where this story is going, I just got totally hung up on one _stinking_ line of dialogue! I've been working through it slowly, and hopefully I'll be back to writing a few pages every other night soon.

Also many thanks to everyone who left feedback! I couldn't believe how many reviews I got for the last chapter! (I guess I must be doing something right.) ^_^

Blah, I spoke too soon. I've just been asked to go pick the dreaded pie cherries, so I'd better get this up! See you all next chapter, provided I haven't fallen out of a tree...


	15. Lina and cute don't mix!

Amelia's jaw ached. As the sleep spell slowly wore off, this revelation became more apparent. With consciousness came the urge to be free of her bonds by any means possible. Amelia opened her eyes. 

She saw the familiar sight of a campfire , with three humans sitting around it. Amelia knew them to be friends, but the urge compelled her to bark, bite, to do anything to scare them off!

"Mrp!"

Amelia quickly realized that something was preventing her mouth from opening. The thought enraged the urge even more, and she began to struggle to free herself.

One of the humans was coming closer! Amelia wanted to bite the intruder, but that had already proved useless. She opted to growl threateningly instead. Before she could do anything else, the human exclaimed something and touched her forehead. The overwhelming desire to sleep gained a hold of her again, and Amelia relapsed into unconsciousness.

***********

"You can't keep doing that, you know." Zelgadis sighed.

"Oh, so you'd rather she go mad right now? Is that it, Zelgadis?" Lina shot back.

"Well no, it's just...it..." Zelgadis sighed in frustration.

Lina's anger quickly died. She put her hand on Zelgadis' shoulder. "I know it's hard, but what else can we do? Until we reach Seyruun we need to keep her as intact as possible."

"She seemed to be okay at first." Gourry commented.

"Yes, until she fully woke up. If only there were a way to keep her in a semi-state of consciousness." Lina began to ponder.

"Let's just get going. We need to get her back to her homeland as soon as possible." Zelgadis stood up and made his way to Amelia. "That may help her regain her senses."

Gourry stepped over to Amelia as well. "Want me to carry her for a while?"

"No, she's not heavy." Zelgadis picked up the passed out wolf and resumed walking.

Lina trudged on ahead. "Man, this feels like a death march. Just walk, walk, walk, walk, walk."

"We could have had a snack if you hadn't eaten it, Lina." Gourry walked beside her.

"Yeah, well, somebody really should put a label on food they're saving." Lina grumbled.

Lina and Gourry continued to talk to each other, but Zelgadis wasn't listening. As he walked he silently hoped and prayed that they weren't already too late.

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"Hey Lina, look! We made it!" Gourry shouted out excitedly as he looked down into the valley below.

Lina crested the hill soon after and joined Gourry. "Thank goodness! This has got to be the fastest I've ever been driven to Seyruun, and oddly it wasn't Amelia doing the driving. Well, not knowingly." Lina winked at Gourry.

"What driving? We don't have a wagon." Gourry puzzled over Lina's statement.

"Not that kind of driving, Gourry! I meant we were forced to come here." Lina scolded.

"Oh, right!" Gourry shot Lina a look. "So why didn't you just say so?"

"Never mind, Gourry." Lina looked back to where they'd come from. "What's taking Zel so long?"

"Well, he has been carrying Amelia the past few days, and I know that's been hard to him whether he says so or not. Also, he hasn't been eating much." Gourry replied.

"What? But he's been taking the same share as we did." Lina was amazed.

"Actually, mine was smaller because you kept swiping my food." Gourry glowered at Lina.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. So Zel's been stashing his share then? I wonder where he hid it?" Lina started to drift off, lost in thought.

"Actually, he's been giving it to Amelia." Gourry replied.

This brought Lina back to reality. "How do you know this, Gourry?" 

"I saw him the other night, after you'd gone to bed."

"All right, but how'd he manage to feed her when she's been asleep this whole time?"

Gourry just shrugged. "Slowly, I guess."

They grew silent as they heard Zelgadis approach.

"Hello Zelgadis, have a nice trip?" Lina smiled.

Zelgadis just gave Lina a cold look as he climbed to the top of the hill. He then laid Amelia on the ground at his feet.

"We made it here, now what?" Gourry asked.

"I'm glad you asked. I actually thought that we should scout about the area before we just barge in on the palace." Lina stated, quickly resuming her role as leader.

"But what about Amelia? We can't just take her into town." Zelgadis noted.

"Actually, I figured only two of us need to go check things out, so the third can stay here and keep an eye on her." Lina looked at Zelgadis.

"The third being me?" Zelgadis knew where this was going.

"Of course! Thank you for volunteering, Zelgadis!" Lina grinned 

Zelgadis grumbled under his breath.

"Well now that that's been determined, we should get moving. We'll be back later this evening, Zel! Let's go, Gourry." Lina gave a quick wave to Zelgadis then joined Gourry as they descended the hill, toward the city.

Finally alone, Zelgadis gave out a sigh of relief, then collapsed onto the ground. He glanced over at Amelia, who was still sleeping away. Zelgadis leaned against a tree and relaxed, waiting for Lina and Gourry's return.

***********

The sun was beginning to set when Zelgadis woke up. He scolded himself for dozing off, but then saw that Amelia was still asleep. Zelgadis relaxed again, this time determined to stay awake as he waited for Lina and Gourry to return.

As he was thinking this, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He focused his attention to see Amelia's ear twitching. Zelgadis looked on as her other ear joined in, then saw her nostrils flare.

She was waking up.

Unsure what her reaction would be, Zelgadis made sure he still had a hold of her leash, and that he could easily detain her if need be. He then watched as her eyes opened ever so slightly.

Amelia continued to take in the sounds and smells around her, then gazed down the hill. Spotting her beloved home, she wagged the tip of her tail as she settled back in to sleep.

Calmed seeing her close her eyes again, Zelgadis nearly jumped in surprise when they shot open a moment later!

Amelia whimpered as she glanced about in fear. Her heart lept when she spotted Zelgadis, as did the rest of her as she got to her feet and trotted over to him.

Zelgadis was about to take action, but he saw how happily she wagged her tail. He settled back down, only to be bombarded by a cold, wet nose!

"Yes, Amelia, I'm glad to see you!" Zelgadis pushed the happy wolf away, then wiped his face on his sleeve.

Amelia's eyes grew large as she saw the tears in his sleeve. She sniffed at it, then whined at Zelgadis.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just careless." Zelgadis stammered. He wasn't about to remind Amelia on what she had done!

Amelia perked up again, then looked around. "Rff?" Amelia was surprised to find her jaw restricted, as she noticed the muzzle around it for the first time.

"Lina thought it was wise to take some precaution. As for Lina and Gourry, they went to go check out the city. They ought to be back soon." Zelgadis replied, somewhat surprised he was actually carrying on a conversation with Amelia.

Amelia gave a muffled sigh, then lay down beside Zelgadis. She rested her head on his leg.

Zelgadis was startled by this, but didn't move. He listened as she fell asleep again. Thinking it safe, he rested his hand on her back. 

Amelia replied with a contented sigh, thumping her tail a few times.

Zelgadis blushed a bit, realizing that Lina would most likely catch him like this and would never let him hear the end of it. Amelia would find him uncomfortable and move before then, right? Zelgadis could only hope.

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Zelgadis awoke the next morning, still with no sign from Lina and Gourry. He gently slid out from under Amelia (she had crawled into his lap during the night!), and stood up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his missing companions making their way back up the hill. Zelgadis quickly brushed the tell-tale wolf fur off of his clothes.

"What took you so long? I was getting ready to go after you." Zelgadis said, as soon as the two made it over the hill.

"Zel, you won't believe what's down there! Look!" Lina pulled out a folded paper from her pocket and handed it to Zelgadis.

Zelgadis spent a moment unfolding it, but gasped when he realized what it was. "A wanted poster?!"

"Yes, we're being accused of kidnapping Amelia!" Lina exclaimed. 

"There were guards everywhere down there! We were lucky they didn't find us!" Gourry added in.

"We had to hide out over night so we could sneak out!" Lina continued.

"How are we going to get into the city if everyone is looking for us?" Zelgadis asked.

"Luckily that shopkeeper didn't recognize us, so we got some disguises." Gourry smiled.

"Yeah, here ya go, Zel." Lina dug into a bag and pulled out... 

"A dress? Is this some joke?" Zelgadis was in shock!

"They're looking for a sorceress, two swordsmen, and a captive princess. They won't suspect a sweet little family." Lina winked. 

"..family?" Zelgadis didn't like the sound of this!

"Besides, none of the dresses were tall enough to fit Gourry." Lina pouted.

Gourry beamed happily as he took off his armor and put on the garb of a farmer.

"You get sick pleasure out of this." Zelgadis glared.

"Oh hush! You're not the only one who has to suffer." Lina slipped into a skirt and top, then tied her hair up in pigtails. "How do I look?"

"Like a little kid." Gourry replied.

Lina giggled cutely and winked. "For once you are correct, Gourry."

Zelgadis sighed and, removing his cape, slipped the dress on. At least it wasn't fancy, so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Also, it came with a wrap that he could cover his head and most of his face with.

Just then, Amelia woke up, perplexed with all of the people. "Rr?" 

"What are you going to do about Amelia? We may be able to fool the guards, but they won't let her by." Zelgadis realized.

"I actually couldn't find anything to help us there." Lina admitted. She had really tried, too...

Lina and Zelgadis pondered on what to do.

"Hey, what about this?" Gourry held out a small amulet.

"Where'd you get that?" Lina took the amulet and looked at it. 

"Oh, that Hayoo guy gave it to me. Oh, and this too." Gourry held a small note out.

Lina snatched it away and, opening it up, read it out loud. "'My mistress used this to tame the Gryphons and Wyverns. Maybe it will help you as well. Affix it to the wolf's neck and "Activate" it. -Heydu.' Gourry, why didn't you show me this before?"

"I forgot?" Gourry shrugged.

"You're not going to try it are you, Lina?" Zelgadis asked.

"We don't have much of a choice at this point." Lina walked over to Amelia, who wagged her tail in greeting. "Hi, Amelia! Glad to see you're feeling better." Lina patted Amelia's head, then attached the amulet to her collar.

Nothing happened.

"Well, that's nice. How's it supposed to work?" Lina snatched up the note again. "Affix it to the wolf's neck and "Activate" it."

Suddenly the amulet began to glow until Amelia was enveloped by the light. The ball of light shrank, then faded, leaving a tiny wolf pup in Amelia's place.

"Adorable!" Lina scooped up Amelia and cradled the tiny pup.

Zelgadis and Gourry gaped.

"Is that...Amelia?" Gourry poked at the ball of fur.

Amelia, now free of the muzzle, clamped onto Gourry's finger. Gourry jumped, then realized she was trying to suckle it.

"Lina, she's hungry." Gourry cooed at the pup.

"Can't blame her since she's been asleep for almost the past week." Zelgadis stated in his no-nonsense way.

Lina cooed happily.

"Lina, don't we have a palace to visit?" Zelgadis asked.

"Yeah, yeah, hang on a moment." Lina dug a ribbon out of her pocket, then tied it around Amelia's neck, covering the amulet and collar. "There, she's perfect!" Lina cuddled the yapping pup.

"We should get some food, too. I'm starved from all that running around!" Gourry whined, his stomach joining in.

"She's so cute! Yes she is! She's my little puppy!" Lina sang. 

"Lina!" Zelgadis yelled in anger.

"What, Zel?!" Lina snapped.

Zelgadis regained his cool composure. "Let's go, we don't know how long Amelia will be like...that."

"Aw, but she's so cute, isn't she?" Lina grinned and held Amelia up to Zelgadis' face.

Amelia wagged her tiny tail and licked the tip of Zelgadis' nose. 

"And she likes to, 'ta boot! Such a sweet baby." Lina cuddled the pup again, as she started down the hill.

"I fear when she has children." Zelgadis shuddered. 

"Could be worse. She could be blowing things up instead." Gourry replied.

Zelgadis thought about Gourry's response as they trekked to the city.

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Tada! Another chapter done! And now to continue with notes from the previous chapter...for those who wondered, the first part was a dream. I like using dreams to help further the story, and I've also had quite a few dreams myself (not like this, they dealt with real life issues I've gone through), so of course I had to put it in! (And Zelgadis got to have it...well, you'll just have to wait and see why!)

Anyway, this chapter was actually more fun to write, as I had no idea what I was going to write! (They got to Seyruun, now how are they going to get in?) Thankfully the ideas came easily, and Amelia being babified was an idea that I had originally intended to happen way back when Thisbe was looking her over, but I originally dropped the idea. (It kept nagging me though, so you get to see a slight variation on it.)

Thanks again for all of the reviews! (And a special note to the reviewer who recognized Thisbe's name! I admit I had been taking a Shakespeare class in high school when I first created that D&D character, and I'm lousy with names. -Plus Thebestian made me think "Thisbe", so there you go- Congrats on noticing!) ^_^

On to the next chapter, when the gang finds out things are a bit off in the palace of Seyruun... (I'll try and have it posted by sometime this weekend!)


	16. Betrayal

"Told you they wouldn't suspect us!" Lina whispered to Zelgadis. She happily skipped along.

Zelgadis scowled. Since his face was covered, no one could tell anyway. "Now dear," he spoke in a high voice, "don't go too far, you might get lost."

Lina turned back and grinned, then resumed skipping, singing a nonsense song as she went.

"Mind your mother, Lia." Gourry spoke in a gruff voice.

Lina slowed down, looking around the marketplace. So far, so good. Some people looked at the 'happy family' and smiled, some frowned, but most ignored them. Lina grinned, then caught a whiff of something delicious.

Lina dashed to Gourry's side and tugged on his arm. "Papa, can we get something to eat?" she asked cutely.

"Food? I thought you'd never ask!" Gourry responded all too eagerly.

Lina and Zelgadis shot a look at Gourry not to blow their cover. 

Zelgadis cut in. "Yes dear, but we can't stop for long. We've got a ways to go." 

The group went to a small stand selling various foodstuffs on a stick. Taking a large portion from the owner (who was very happy to oblige!) the three took a moment to fill their stomachs.

Amelia smelled the food and let out a small cry. She was hungry too! Lina put a small piece of food in front of her face, Amelia quickly tearing into it.

"Aw, good puppy." Lina smiled and pat the pup's head, lulling her to sleep.

Everyone content (at least for the moment), the group continued on their way to the palace.

As they approached the outer gates, they were stopped by the guards.

"What business have you here?"

Gourry stepped forward. "We've information on the whereabouts of the princess."

"We need to speak to her father, the prince, immediately." Zelgadis added.

The guards looked at each other, then relented. "Do enter, the prince will be glad of your news." They ushered the small group in. 

"That was easier than I expected." Zelgadis stated, after they were well out of earshot. 

"Sometimes it pays to do things the legitimate way, instead of using force." Lina winked.

"But we lied! Not to mention disguising ourselves." Gourry tugged at his shirt.

"You know what I meant." Lina grumbled.

They grew silent as they approached the palace. The guards, already having been informed, waved them through the entrance. They quickly found themselves inside the throne room where none other than Prince Phil resided.

"Well there's a good sign." Lina breathed a sigh of relief.

Prince Phil rose to great his guests. "My guards tell me you know of my daughter's whereabouts."

"Yes, but we must speak to you in private." Gourry replied.

Prince Phil studied them a moment, then dismissed the guards in the room. "Now, what do you have to tell me?"

"Well, first off," Lina dropped the cutesy little girl act, "it's us, Phil."

Prince Phil blinked in confusion.

"You know, Lina Inverse, and my followers Gourry and Zelgadis?" Lina pointed to her companions.

Gourry and Zelgadis glared at Lina.

"Oh, of course! I was hoping you'd come." Phil replied.

"It would have been easier for us to if you didn't have those posters everywhere!" Gourry responded. He didn't enjoy sneaking into a city, especially Seyruun!

Phil bowed a bit sheepishly. "I am terribly sorry about that, but it was the only way to trace you! You are a hard one to find, Lina." 

As Lina and Phil got reacquainted, Amelia woke from her nap. Upon hearing the familiar voice, Amelia squirmed to be let down.

Lina struggled to keep her grip. "Anyway Phil, what I really came for..." Lina set down the wiggly pup. "Deactivate."

Again Amelia was enveloped by a ball of light, but when it faded she had regained her normal size. She made a mad dash and lept into Phil's lap!

"Oof! Quite the...energetic...pup you've got here." Phil spoke as best he could between all of the 'kisses' Amelia gave him.

"Actually, that's Amelia." Zelgadis stated.

Prince Phil looked at them. "What?"

Lina glanced away, somewhat ashamed. "We ran into a bit of trouble, then finally decided to come here for help."

"Excellent." Prince Phil smiled a malicious grin, then grabbed Amelia by the throat!

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis gasped in horror.

"Phil, what are you doing?" Lina couldn't believe her eyes!

"You've escaped me for the last time. It's time to end this!" Phil ignored the three and continued to strangle Amelia.

For all of her life, Amelia's father had been nothing but loving. Never had he raised a finger to harm her. So this came as a nasty shock! As she began to black out, Amelia kicked at Phil to get away. 

Phil staggered from the blow to his gut, but didn't let go.

"Burst Rondo!" Lina cast a spell at Phil, hoping to distract him. 

"Windy Shield!"

The shield protected the prince from Lina's spell, which bounced off harmlessly.

"Who did that?" Lina yelled in anger.

"Surely you haven't forgotten me already?" The sorcerer from before stepped out into view behind Prince Phil.

"Who're you?" Gourry asked, clearly bewildered.

The sorcerer fell over in shock. "I'm Cedric, the Green mage!" 

"Who?" Zelgadis asked.

"He's the one that nearly drowned you." Lina replied.

"You!" Zelgadis made a dash at Cedric, but was knocked to the ground by a large beast.

"Don't forget about me!" Marcus grinned as he sicked his 4 beasts, large hulking figures that somewhat resembled a bear, on the group. 

Gourry went in for the kill, but gasped in shock as his sword bounced off the beasts' hide, leaving them unfazed. "What are they?" 

Marcus grinned gleefully. "They're my own creation. After seeing that golem of yours," Marcus looked at Zelgadis, "I began to do a bit of experimenting. Then I ran into a chimera maker, and there you go. So, what do you think?"

"You're sick!" Line yelled.

Zelgadis glanced across the room as was horrified to see Amelia finally go limp. He made to cast a spell at Phil, but was hit by a Freeze Arrow.

"You forgot about me again!" Cedric grinned.

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis tried to get to Amelia, but were cut off by the chimeras.

"You cowards!" Zelgadis roared.

Amelia was in serious trouble! As her life ebbed away, she gathered her remaining strength and struck out at Phil again.

Phil grunted in pain, Amelia having hit him where it hurts most! He lost his grip and crumpled to the ground, clutching his crotch in pain.

Amelia fell to the ground, sucking in the sweet, life-sustaining air! As her vision cleared, she got back up to her feet - nearly being slammed by Phil's fist! Amelia dodged it and lept out of the way.

_"What's wrong with Daddy? He's never acted this way before!"_ As Amelia avoided Phil's onslaught of attacks, a gleam of red caught her eye. _"That circlet...that's not Daddy's!"_

Amelia dodged another attack, then lept onto Phil, knocking him to the ground. As he grabbed her in a bear hug (not the good kind!), she bit onto the head ornament and ripped it off.

Phil immediately loosened his grip, his eyes staring off into space. He then shook his head and glanced about in confusion. "What's going on? Who are all of you?"

Cedric and Marcus looked back in horror.

"Marcus!" Cedric yelled.

"I'm on it!" Marcus snapped his fingers.

Immediately his chimeras stopped 'toying' with Lina and Co. and knocked them all to the ground, pinning them under their massive weight.

"What are you doing here? What is all of this? And who's dog is this?!" Phil was indignant.

"So, someone figured out my secret."

"Boss!" Marcus and Cedric cried out happily.

A man of short stature came out of the shadows, grinning at the group. "So good to see you again, Phil. But what happened to that lovely circlet I gave you?" He spotted Amelia with said circlet in her mouth.

"Marcus?" 'The Boss' sounded bored.

"Of course, Boss!" Marcus directed a chimera at Amelia.

Amelia lept away from Phil, but was swatted mid-air by the chimera's massive paw. She smacked into the wall and crumpled to the floor.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis struggled to get free, to no avail.

"Why are you doing this?" Lina spat.

The man walked over to Amelia and took the circlet from her. "I do believe you dropped this, your majesty." He bowed, then placed the circlet back onto Phil's forehead.

"Isn't it obvious?" Phil said, although it was easy to see he had no control over his actions. "In this way Alexander can rule without causing an uprising against him."

"What is with you people?! What ever happened to marrying into a kingdom?" Lina kicked at her captor, getting a growl in response. 

"Already tried that, but our beloved princess didn't think I was good enough!" Alexander replied. "So I decided to do it another way."

"You were going to marry Amelia? Aren't you related?" Gourry stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"No way, Gourry, don't even say that! They can't be!" Lina also grimaced.

The man, now known as Alexander, smiled, as if amused with himself. "Actually, we are, she's my second cousin, thrice removed." 

"That's more information than I ever wanted to know." Lina looked like she was going to be sick.

"So now that you have us, what do you intend to do?" Zelgadis glared.

"Well, I had intended on the princess dying, but that keeps failing." Alexander glared at his henchmen. "Aside from that, if I were to successfully do her in, you no doubt would come after me and kill me in revenge. I think I'd rather kill you all and let her live forever, trapped in a wolf's body. She deserves it for turning me down." 

"Are you done yet?" Lina yawned in boredom.

"Yes, and now I shall kill you!" Alexander laughed evilly.

"I hate to spoil your fun, but there's something you don't know." Lina smirked.

Alexander stopped cackling and gave her an amused look. "And what might that be?"

"I'm not ready to die, especially by your hand!" Lina shoved the chimera off of her and stood up.

"What? But how?" Marcus gaped.

"You may have made them invulnerable to weapons, but they can't resist a simple Sleep spell." Lina poked the chimera, causing it to fall to the floor, snoring loudly.

"No fair!" Marcus pouted.

While everyone was distracted, Zelgadis silently chanted to himself. He then touched his hand to the ground and yelled "Dug Haut!"

Stone spikes shot up from under the floor, knocking the remaining chimeras to the ground. Zelgadis and Gourry quickly lept to their feet.

"There's something else you forgot." Gourry grinned as he pulled out his sword, striking at the fallen chimeras. He brought back a bloody blade. "Their hides may be invulnerable to my sword, but their eyes aren't!"

Sure enough, the now blind chimeras staggered about, unsure of where to go.

"My babies!" Marcus cried.

"You should worry about your own skin!" Zelgadis slashed at the man, only managing to nick Marcus' arm as he fled in terror.

"Cedric, do something!" Alexander yelled. He hadn't expected for the tide to turn so suddenly!

Cedric quickly responded with, "Dark Mist!"

The room was enveloped in darkness. When the mist finally cleared, Alexander, Phil, Marcus, and Cedric were gone.

"No, they got away!" Lina kicked at a loose rock in anger.

"They forgot Amelia, though." Gourry pointed to where Amelia lay, Zelgadis already by her side.

They knelt next to Zelgadis, who was busy casting Recovery on Amelia. Lina joined in to help. As Gourry looked on, he heard banging on the outside door.

"Uh oh, I think the guards heard us." Gourry said.

"Go barricade the door before they get in!" Lina commanded, then resumed healing her fallen friend.

Gourry quickly dashed to the other end of the room. Luckily the door had thick wooden boards for such purposes, so he slid them into place. Satisfied, he rejoined the others.

"C'mon, Amelia, we don't have time for this. Wake up!" Lina shook the still wolf. "You've got to!"

The guards began to attack the doors.

Spent, Zelgadis had to stop his spell. He studied Amelia for a moment. "She's still breathing. She should wake up soon."

"She needs to wake up now! If the guards get in here before we find a way out.." Lina looked around the room for possible means to escape.

Lina was interrupted by Amelia shaking her head. She winced in pain as she looked at her comrades.

"Just in time. Amelia, we need your help. Are there any secret exits out of here?" Lina asked (breathing a small sigh of relief!) 

Amelia got up and limped behind the throne. She got close to the wall, then reared up and placed her paws against the wall. She growled in irritation, unable to reach high enough.

The others followed behind, trying to figure out what Amelia was doing.

Amelia woofed and pointed her nose to a higher point on the wall, pawing to get higher.

Gourry noticed an odd looking panel in the wall and pressed it, revealing a secret door.

Amelia limped in, barking for the others to follow as she led them through the maze-like tunnels. After they had all entered through the door, it closed shut.

Lina cast a Light spell to ward off the darkness, following after Amelia.

Zelgadis followed behind Gourry, lost in thought. "Gourry, what you said earlier is bothering me."

Gourry glanced back. "What's that, Zelgadis?"

"When did you figure out that those chimeras could still be blinded by a sword?" Zelgadis asked.

"Oh, when I first fought against you, of course." Gourry smiled.

"You weren't going to...?" Zelgadis paused.

"What, blind you? I was tempted after you kidnapped Lina. If she hadn't stopped me when I saw you again, yes, I would have. Why?" Gourry answered truthfully.

Zelgadis' eyes bugged out in horror. "Is that the only reason you didn't?"

"Hmm..." Gourry pondered this for a moment. "Nah, that's not my style." Gourry clapped Zelgadis on the back and smiled. "Besides, you turned out okay."

Zelgadis could only laugh nervously in response.

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This has got to be the longest chapter I've written yet! (If not, it's the longest scene at least!) I'm going to cut this short, as my darn wrists are complaining again. (Never take a job where all you do is work on computers all day. It'll haunt you years after the fact!) So were you all surprised with how things turned out? As for characters, Alexander is totally made up, but I wouldn't be surprised if Amelia has an extended family. Hopefully they're all nice, well adjusted people, and not power hungry though! I'm going to try and have the next chapter up soon, but it's the part that's giving me...Writer's Block! o_O I know where I want to go, I'm just having trouble making it happen. Please forgive me if it takes me a bit longer to get the next part out!


	17. Run away!

"Why'd they make the tunnel so long? I'll be worn out before we reach the end." Gourry sighed as he plodded along.

"They make these tunnels as a safety precaution. Should a royal's life be threatened, they can escape into the maze. Even if they were followed, the pursuer has a good chance of getting lost in here." Zelgadis replied.

"I sure hope we aren't lost." Gourry looked down the winding tunnel.

"I doubt Amelia would lead us astray." Lina looked back at the two.

"Not to mention she played down here as a child." Zelgadis commented.

"Who told you that?" Lina asked.

Zelgadis began to fidget nervously. "Ah, she did, actually."

Lina stopped walking so she could nudge Zelgadis in the side. "When did you two get so chatty with each other?" she grinned.

"Just about any time you and Gourry broke off into a couple." Zelgadis countered.

"But we're always walking together." Gourry replied. "Oh."

Lina turned back to where she had been walking, hiding the light blush in her cheeks. She nearly tripped over Amelia when the wolf suddenly froze in her steps.

Amelia growled at the darkness.

Lina reacted by shushing Zelgadis and Gourry, then put out her light.

Lina and Gourry strained to hear anything, but Zelgadis could easily hear a male voice from farther down the tunnel.

Amelia grew silent, then stalked off toward the voice. Lina motioned for them to follow.

"Well this is just lovely. After all I've done for this plan to succeed, they leave me down here to rot! Lousy, stinking j-AAAH!" 

Amelia had lept at the man, knocking him to the ground.

"No! Please! I don't want to die!"

"Give it a rest, scum." Lina recast a Light spell, revealing Marcus laying flat on his face, Amelia pinning him to the ground. 

"Oh, so you got away, eh?" Marcus grinned sheepishly (from what the could see of his face.)

"It takes much more than that to defeat Lina Inverse!" Lina glared down at Marcus. "Make sure he can't get away, Gourry."

"Right." Gourry nudged Amelia out of the way, then hoisted Marcus up off of the ground, pinning his arms behind his back.

"You think you're tough, ordering your lackeys around!" Marcus spat out at Lina, flailing his legs uselessly.

"You should talk! You can't even fight your own battles unless you have the advantage! Unlike me." Lina grinned as she cast a Fire Ball. 

Marcus cried out in fear, trying to break free from Gourry's grip. 

"Absolutely pathetic." Zelgadis turned away in disgust.

"I wouldn't move if I were you, or I'll have to use this on you." Lina grinned evilly.

Marcus' eyes bugged out, but he stopped flailing.

Lina cut off the spell. "That's better. Now then, I've got some questions for you. First, I saw your handiwork back there. Were you the one that infected Amelia?"

"I had nothing to do with that!" Marcus refused to meet Lina's gaze.

Amelia snarled at Marcus as she approached him, sniffing about him. Something in his jacket caught her interest, but Marcus kicked at her as she moved in to investigate.

"Stay out of there!"

Marcus realized what a bad move that was as Gourry tightened his grip, and Zelgadis struck out at him. Lina managed to hold Zelgadis back.

"At ease, Zel!" Lina looked to Amelia, who had easily avoided Marcus' attack. "Is our friend hiding something from us, Amelia?" 

Amelia woofed back at Lina, then tugged on Marcus' jacket.

"Er, she must be smelling the treats I fed my animals with." Marcus laughed nervously.

Lina looked at Zelgadis, motioning for him to check it out. Zelgadis also approached Marcus. and as he glared at the man, searched his jacket. He found an inner pocket, and in there...

Zelgadis pulled out a small case. He studied it briefly, then opened it, revealing many small vials. "I didn't think many animals could live on just a liquid diet." The sarcasm wasn't lost on anyone in the room.

"What's in them?" Gourry peered over Marcus' shoulder.

Zelgadis picked up a vial and studied it for a moment. "Lina, come look at this."

Lina stepped over to where Zelgadis stood and looked at the vial he held out to her. "W. Bear." She looked through the other vials, seeing similar labels. "So tell me Mr. "It wasn't me", did your creations survive off of Essence of Were?"

Marcus cowered, but didn't respond.

"So that's solved. But how did he infect Amelia in the first place? Lina, did she ever indicate she had been attacked or had this injected in any way?" Zelgadis asked, holding up a vial labeled "W. Wolf".

Lina shook her head. "No, she was perfectly normal until the moon came out."

Amelia cocked her head in thought. What they said sounded familiar, but she could only remember vague images.

"Wait, what's this?" Lina pulled out another vial from the case, but unlike the others, this one didn't contain liquid. "...a mosquito?"

Marcus began to sweat profusely.

Amelia, meanwhile, realized the importance of the mosquito and began to bark out at Lina.

"What good is a mosquito? All they do is suck blood." Gourry made a face.

"Idiot! Only the females do that!" Marcus replied.

The hall grew deathly silent as everyone eyed Marcus suspiciously. 

"Oh-ho, so you feel like sharing now?" Lina shot Marcus an unimpressed look.

"Er, I don't know how that got in there!" Marcus replied lamely.

"Oh. So you won't mind if I kill it then. Here ya go, Zel." Lina handed the vial to Zelgadis.

Marcus watched her in horror. "You wouldn't."

"Actually, he would. You've made him very upset." Gourry replied. 

Zelgadis grinned at Marcus as he squeezed the vial until it started to crack.

"No! Stop! Don't kill Harvey!" Marcus cried.

"Harvey?" Everyone gave him a quizzical look.

"Uh, yeah. He's mine, ya see..." Marcus whimpered in admittance. 

Amelia began to move about in agitation, trying to get everyone's attention.

"What's gotten into you, Amelia?" Lina asked.

"Quick, this way! I can see light up ahead!"

Everyone froze.

Amelia whined frantically as she tugged at Lina's skirt, trying to pull her further down the tunnel.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Lina dimmed her Light spell until it was nearly too dark to see, then turned to follow after Amelia.

"But what about him?" Gourry indicated Marcus.

"Bring him. And Zelgadis, keep a hold of that case. I'll keep an eye on this little guy." Lina took the vial back from Zelgadis and pocketed it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They ran quickly (but quietly) through the tunnels, until finally they reached a dead end.

"Amelia, I thought you knew where you were going?" Lina scolded, fearing the guards weren't far off.

Amelia was unfazed as she pushed into a part of the wall, revealing another secret door.

"You were saying?" Zelgadis gave Lina a cool look.

"Well sorry, but we're kind of being pursued here!" Lina replied. 

Amelia gave a small warning growl to silent the two, then walked through the door out of the palace.

"Hey, this is kind of neat. There aren't any guards patrolling here." Gourry smiled as he looked about the empty grounds.

"Most likely because they rushed inside with the commotion we caused." Zelgadis replied.

"What do we do now, Lina?" Gourry looked to Lina.

"It's too dangerous to hang around here so we'd better retreat." Lina surveyed the situation.

"How do we get out? Someone is sure to spot us." Zelgadis was getting nervous.

"We can't exactly go strolling down the street... How well can you all sneak through alleys?" Lina asked.

"Not a problem." Zelgadis replied.

"Uh, I guess I can do okay." Gourry said.

"It's not me they're after." Marcus smirked.

"Not yet they aren't, and if you don't cooperate, you won't live long enough for them to." Lina snapped back.

Marcus gulped. "Yeah, I can be real quiet."

Lina smirked at the easily cowed man, then knelt down in front of Amelia. "No offense, but sneaking was never one of your better skills; and to avoid making an even bigger scene.." Lina placed her hand on the amulet, making sure it was still attached. "Activate."

Amelia let out a cry of surprise and protest as she shrank down to a tiny pup.

Lina picked the pup up and cradled her in one arm. "Okay, let's go before they catch us."

The group spent much of the evening sneaking out of Seyruun, trying to act casual all the while. Finally, as the sun disappeared from view, they made it to the outer gate.

Gourry halted in his tracks as he saw two guards standing outside the gate. "Lina, what do we do about the guards?"

"The usual." Lina winked. "Here Zelgadis, hold her."

"What?" Zelgadis was shocked to see Lina holding Amelia out to him.

"I need to concentrate on getting you all over, and I'll need my arms free. Now hold her, and be careful."

Zelgadis took the squirming pup, but was unsure how to hold her. He held her to his chest awkwardly.

"Good, now everyone stand together. Keep a hold of our friend, Gourry, and Zel, think you can handle her?" Lina prepped herself. 

Zelgadis just looked at Lina, as Amelia had already snuggled up against him and had fallen asleep.

"You're a natural." Lina smiled. "Now then..." Lina began to do a series of hand gestures. "Raywing!" She grabbed onto Gourry and Zelgadis as she floated up from the ground, pulling the group up and over the outer wall.

Gourry shut his eyes tight and held Marcus in a death grip. Zelgadis kept an eye on the ground below, continuously making sure Amelia was secure. As they were descending the other side, Lina began to falter.

"Tell me when it's over!" Gourry whimpered, still keeping his eyes shut.

Zelgadis gasped in horror as he realized they were practically plummeting to the earth below. "Lina..?"

Lina was straining to keep control of her spell, managing to slow their descent down before they landed. She then released her grip on Gourry and Zelgadis. "You all okay?" she gasped.

Feeling ground beneath his feet, Gourry opened an eye to look around before releasing his breath. "I never want to do that again!"

"That was too close, Lina." Zelgadis agreed with Gourry.

"You're telling me. You're all heavy!" Lina shook the cramps out of her muscles. 

"Never was a big f-fan of m-m-magic." Marcus shook in fright.

"Deal with it. Now let's go, we need to get as far from here before sunrise as possible!"

With that, Lina took off away from the city and into the wilderness.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Lina, how far are we going to run? We just spent the past week getting to Seyruun." Gourry sighed with fatigue, as the group hadn't stopped all night.

"We've got to make sure nobody followed us. We'll go back when we've figured out a plan." Lina replied.

"Don't forget we don't have all of the time in the world, Lina." Zelgadis spoke up, also fatigued from the march, but also not wanting to get caught.

Marcus kept quiet, concentrating on staying awake.

"Can we get our stuff at least?" Gourry asked.

"Yes! I don't want to run around in this dress forever!" Lina tugged at the offending skirt.

Zelgadis flushed, having just remembered he was still in a dress. 

"The question is, which hill did we come from?" Lina looked about as she pondered before deciding on a direction.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, Lina ran to some underbrush and began digging around.

"Ta-da!" She pulled out the clothing and armor they'd stashed. 

Lina and Gourry quickly got out of their disguises and back into their normal clothing.

"What's the matter, Zel? Aren't you going to change? Or do you like the dress that much?" Lina winked.

Zelgadis ignored her implication. "Yes, I'm going to change, but I wanted you to hold her." Zelgadis handed the sleeping pup over to Lina.

"Wow, she's really konked out." Gourry noted.

"Er, excuse me Miss, but when do we get to do the same?" Marcus yawned.

Lina ignored the man's plea and looked down into the city. It looked like things had settled down at the palace, at least. Lina pet Amelia absentmindedly as she made a decision.

"Okay, I think we've got a good head start on them, and even if they do send out search parties it'll take them some time to find us."

"Meaning?" Gourry asked.

"That we'll camp here for the night. But before that..." Lina dug around in her pocket and pulled out the leash. "...we've got to make sure our prisoner doesn't get away. Tie him up, Gourry." Lina tossed the leash to Gourry, who quickly complied.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Marcus struggled in vain.

Lina got up in Marcus' face. "Don't you talk to me about fair after all you've put us through!"

"Be glad you're even alive." Zelgadis glowered.

Gourry tied Marcus' hands and feet together to prevent the man's escape.

"Good. Now if you're quiet I won't have to gag you." Lina yawned. "As for me, I'm getting some sleep."

Lina found a comfortable spot in the ground and quickly fell asleep, leaving the others to figure out watches for the night.

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	18. There is a time and a place for everythi...

The group was on the run again just before daybreak.

"Did we have to leave so early?" Gourry yawned.

Lina stopped in her tracks to look at him. "Unless you want to get caught, yes."

Gourry wasn't convinced. "But Lina, there haven't been any guards or anyone after us."

"I'm not going to give them the chance." Lina resumed her brisk pace.

"Where do you intend to go?" Zelgadis asked.

"Anywhere that's not Seyruun. As I said last night, we need some kind of plan before we go back." Lina replied.

"Miss, if I may, what are you intending to do with me?" Marcus spoke in a very hushed voice, as if he were afraid Lina would torch him for even existing.

Lina glared back at the man. "Get some information out of you, of course. For starters, what's the deal with Phil?" She looked like she'd annihilate him if he didn't respond.

Marcus cringed, but answered, "Er, that's more Cedric's area of expertise than mine. All I know is he's under a mind control spell."

Lina sighed, her suspicions confirmed.

"Hey, Lina," Gourry spoke up, "weren't we supposed to get some kind of hood stuff?"

"Hood? What are you..." Lina gasped as realization hit. She had totally forgotten about the Wolfsbane! She scanned the nearby flora. "It's not here. I thought it grew in the foothills?"

"What does, Lina?" Then Zelgadis realized it as well. "You don't suppose it's out of season?"

"Down here? It can't be!" Lina turned back to Marcus. "So what do you know about Wolfsbane?"

"Th-that it's used to kill werewolves?"

"Good." Lina sounded mildly amused. "Now then, any idea where we can find it?"

Marcus gulped as he responded, "Y-you won't find any, it's a-all gone."

"What?! What happened to it?!" Lina shot up in his face.

"Th-the boss had us re-remove it!" Marcus was stuttering, he was so frightened.

"Impossible! That would take months to eradicate it all!" Zelgadis couldn't hide his shock at the news.

"Not when a large group of people do it. The prince has a lot of influence." Marcus replied, glad to pass the blame on.

"What did they do with all of it?" Lina asked.

"I'm not sure. The boss did have a huge bonfire, but I thought he was just celebrating." Marcus ducked his head.

"What do we do now, Lina?" Gourry asked.

"I'll kick his butt! He'll wish he never dared cross paths with Lina Inverse!!" Lina raged as she stomped forward. "Why, when I'm done with him he-EEEEEEEEEEEE!" 

Lina let out a cry of surprise as her foot was jerked out from under her and she was left hanging, by a rope looped around her ankle, above the ground. The sheer quickness and force caused her to lose her grip on Amelia, who crashed to the ground below.

"Lina!" Gourry dashed forward to free her from the trap, only to have a net come down, trapping Zelgadis as well.

"Who's there? Show yourself!!" Lina swung her fists in rage.

"You really should watch where you're going." Cedric, followed by ten guards stepped out of his hiding place.

"You again? How'd you find us?" Lina snapped back.

Cedric smiled. "You did, by capturing my dear friend, Marcus." 

"How's that?" Marcus scratched his head.

Cedric stepped over to Marcus and freed him from his bonds. "I had figured you'd get lost, so I put a tracer spell on you."

"Oh." Marcus blushed in embarrassment.

"Bring them in for questioning!" Cedric barked at the guards, who quickly responded in detaining the three.

"Hey, you've got it all wrong! They're the bad guys!" Lina protested as her wrists were bound behind her back, making spell casting useless.

Cedric wasn't going to take any chances. "Better take extra precaution with these two," he pointed at Lina and Zelgadis, "they know magic."

The guards gagged Lina and Zelgadis.

"Back to Seyruun! The prince will want to question them personally, I would think. Oh, and Marcus, keep up this time." 

Lina and the others were led a small distance away, to where the guards had left their horses. The prisoners were put on horseback, then the group took off toward the city.

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Amelia had scrambled to safety the instant she hit the ground, and now watched in horror as her friends were taken away. Long after they were out of sight, she could still make out Lina's muffled cries of protest. She had to do something! She tottered after them for a moment before losing her balance and falling down. She had to do something about her pint-sized proportions...

Unable to use magic in her current form, and being unable to speak, Amelia couldn't actually deactivate the amulet. She would have to use force, and hope it worked! She pawed at the collar, but wasn't able to grip the amulet.

She moved on to removing the collar itself, using her hind legs to try and push the collar over her head. She was able to get it up around her ears, but then it got stuck. Knowing the peril her friends were in, she grit her teeth and pushed as hard as she could. Success! The collar finally slipped over her ears, and off of her head.

She was given a nasty shock for her efforts, and fell in a daze to the ground. She came to her senses a moment later, and to her relief she was her normal size again. She shook off the paralyzing pain in her muscles, then dashed off to Seyruun.

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"Hey Ted, what do you think: tame or wild?"

"What are you talking about, Rich?"

"That dog there."

Two guards stood at the outer gate of Seyruun , currently debating on the nature of a fast approaching 'dog'.

"Kind of hard to say, what with the way he's running. Think someone lost him?" Ted replied.

"I don't see a collar." Rich noted.

Amelia ran toward the gate, but saw that the guards were watching her. She slowed down and approached them, her tail wagging to show she meant them no harm.

"I'd say tame. Odd looking dog though. I wonder what breed it is?" Ted said.

"Yeah, he looks more like a wolf, other than the coloring. Think he got lost?" Rich replied.

Amelia cocked her head somewhat in wonder. The guards must be stationed out here too long! As they debated with each other about her breeding, she entered into the city. Concerned with the safety of her friends, Amelia broke into a run straight for the palace.

Dodging wagons and countless startled citizens, Amelia was able to get to the center of town in record time! There was something to be said about having four legs...

She cautiously crept into the square in front of the palace, wary of the guards. She had to figure out a way to get into the palace. 

"Hey!"

Amelia yelped in surprise and looked back. Sure enough, a guard had spotted her! She took off toward the palace.

"Hey! Get back here! You're not supposed to be here!" The guard gave chase.

Amelia ran like crazy across the palace grounds until she entered the gardens. Spotting a nearby shrubbery, she dove in and froze in place. She could hear the guard approaching, so she lay as low as she could and held her breath. Anything not to be seen.

"Great, where'd that blasted beast get to? Who'd let their stupid animal out without a leash? I'm going to get busted..." The guard muttered to himself as he searched around the area.

"Paul, what do you think you're doing? We're needed inside!"

The flustered guard, Paul, shot up and saluted the newcomer. "Nothing, sir! What's going on?"

"They caught Lina Inverse. She and her cohorts are on trial right now, as we're needed for backup, just in case she tries anything." The older guard replied.

"Lina Inverse? But the prince always spoke so highly of her, I still can't believe she would kidnap the princess." Paul sighed. It was so hard to find good people these days...

"I know, but you know the law. I don't think she'll ever leave this city again."

Paul gasped. "You don't mean?"

The older guard nodded his head. "She's been accused of murdering Princess Amelia."

Paul sighed and shook his head as he followed the other guard back toward the palace.

Amelia was in shock over what she'd just heard. She wanted to jump out from her hiding spot to let the guards know she was still alive, but knew they wouldn't recognize her, or even understand her as she was now. And now Lina...

No! She cannot let them die for a crime they didn't commit! Amelia had to do something, even if she had to sacrifice her own life to save them!

So impassioned and distraught as she was, Amelia didn't feel the gut-wrenching pain until it had already overcome her. She howled out in pain, this being more intense than anything she had ever experienced before.

The two guards, still nearby, jumped in fright at the sound, spooked as it started out as a wolf's howl, but ended in a very human cry of pain. They searched for the source of the sound.

Paul peered into the shrubs and gasped. "The princess! And she's na..."

The older guard pulled him back, knowing full well what he was about to say. "Stand back man, give her some respect!"

Paul blushed and backed away. "What do we do?"

"Quickly, go find something to keep her decent. We need to get her inside. Quickly now! I'll stand watch." He shooed Paul away.

Paul sped off into the palace.

The older guard stood watch, facing away from shrubbery in respect. He jumped when he heard a gasp.

"Princess, don't worry. You're safe now."

Amelia looked up in surprise. The guard was addressing her, but how did he know it was her? She gasped in horror when she realized she was naked, but also joyful that she was human again.

"We need to get inside, we've got to save Miss Lina and the others! Daddy as well!"

"Princess?"

Amelia took a breath, knowing she'd have to tell him everything. As she waited for the other guard to return, she relayed everything she knew about Alexander's plotting...

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I AM ALIVE!!! (Believe it or not.) I had wanted to update this before I spent a week in Idaho (with no access to the outside world at all), but I ran out of time, then spent a week there without my story! (I was so bored!) When I got back I spent the next week making up lost days at work, which left me very drained, and not wanting to even think of proper grammar and the like. Well, I'm finally caught up with all that, and now I'm back to posting! I hope to have this whole story resolved in a few more chapters, but I don't have it all written out, so anything's possible. 


	19. You call this a gift?

  
  


A rather stern and serious Phil sat at his interrogation desk, Marcus and Cedric standing behind him. Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis stood before him, surrounded by guards.  
  
Lina Inverse! Phil barked, You are charged with the kidnapping and murder of my daughter. How do you plead?  
  
Hn nn rg rn! Lina cried out, still bound and gagged.  
  
Gourry, not gagged, tried to speak up on Lina's behalf. But Prince Phil, we would never-  
  
Phil pounded his desk. You shall address me as Prince Philionel', or not at all. Now then, as Lina Inverse has no way of proving her innocence, and since I can only imagine you assisted her, I sentence you all to-  
  
Prince Phil was interrupted by the double doors being forcefully opened.  
  
Amelia, followed by an entourage of guards stood in the doorway.  
  
Prince Phil bolted up out of his chair. You're still alive?!  
  
Even though she knew it wasn't actually her father speaking, the anger in his words stung. Amelia fought back tears. Give it up, Alexander, they know everything! Your injustices could not go on unpunished!  
  
Alexander? Whatever are you talking about, dear daughter? Phil's voice dripped with excess sap (even for him!)  
  
Amelia was not swayed. And relinquish your hold on my father! She yelled out into the room, knowing her traitorous relation was nearby. She spotted Marcus and Cedric trying to sneak away.   
  
Guards, seize those men!  
  
The entourage of guards easily overtook Marcus and Cedric.  
  
Phil looked about in panic. No, it wasn't supposed to be this way!  
  
Amelia knew that Alexander had to be somewhere nearby, most likely in the same room. While Prince Phil fought with the guards, she spotted a suspicious looking curtain in the far corner of the room. Unable to use her magic, there was only one thing to do...  
  
Justice Kick! Amelia launched herself -feet first- at the curtain, and was rewarded with a shout of pain as she made contact. She pulled back the curtain to reveal none other than Alexander himself slumped against the wall.  
  
Amelia glared down in anger at Alexander, but was struck with a jab of pain in her gut. She hugged her middle and grit her teeth. No...not yet! She fought off the pain and stood up, turning to the guards.  
  
Guards, here he is! Make sure he cannot get away before Justice has been dealt.  
  
While the guards dragged away a dazed Alexander, Amelia saw her father was equally out of it. She took a step toward him, but stumbled as the pain fought to overcome her.  
  
A nearby guard steadied her. Princess, is everything all right?  
  
I'm fine. Please, help my father. The circlet on his forehead...please..remove it. Amelia fought to remain in control.  
  
At once, Princess.  
  
Amelia watched the guard make his way across the room, passing by her still bound friends. Amelia gasped, having forgotten about their situation. She motioned to another guard to free them.  
  
What happened? How did you all get here so fast? How did I get here? Prince Phil, now free from Alexander's spell, was utterly confused. He looked out to see a familiar face. he cheered.  
  
Amelia smiled back at him, then keeled over, unable to hold back the pain any longer.  
  
Amelia? What's wrong with my daughter? Prince Phil rushed to her side, but stepped back in surprise to see a wolf in her place. He gasped in shock.  
  
What's happened to my precious daughter? Prince Phil bellowed out in grief.  
  
Lina slowly stepped forward. Well Phil, you see...  
  
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Zelgadis let out a yawn of boredom as he shifted in his seat. Last night, after Phil had been filled in on everything, they had decided it safest to move Amelia (still unconscious since yesterday's ordeal) out into the stables to avoid any further trouble. It wouldn't do well if the citizenry of Seyruun were to learn of Amelia's fate.  
  
After a short debate, Zelgadis had been elected (by one Lina Inverse) to watch over Amelia until she woke up. This morning so far had been uneventful. Phil had only just left, having lectured his unconscious daughter on overcoming adversity, and some such thing. Zelgadis tuned him out when he went into Justice Speech mode.  
  
Zelgadis peeked into the stall.  
  
Nope, she was still snoozing away. He noted the two ropes tied about her neck, each anchored to opposite sides of the wall to keep her from escaping. They were more of a precaution, Lina not wanting to take any more chances.  
  
Speaking of Lina... She and Gourry were leading a small group of soldiers about the countryside, searching for the elusive Wolfsbane. After all, Alexander couldn't have possibly killed it all off, could he?  
  
Zelgadis was brought out of his musings by a sudden commotion. Amelia was finally beginning to stir...  
  
She whimpered as she came to, but as she woke up more, she began to snarl quietly. She sat up and looked right at Zelgadis.  
  
Zelgadis gasped in alarm.  
  
Two bright yellow eyes met his gaze, no trace of blue at all, as if they had never been anything but yellow. These yellow orbs also showed no signs of familiarity. In fact, the wolf backed as far away as possible and bore her teeth, warning Zelgadis to back off.  
  
Amelia...no, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Zelgadis smashed his fist into the ground, knowing all too well what had happened.  
  
You shouldn't have sacrificed yourself like that, Amelia. We're not worth it! ...I'm not worth it. Tears stung his eyes as grief overtook him. An anguished cry escaped his throat.  
  
The wolf bristled and snarled at Zelgadis. She was quickly becoming agitated.  
  
Zelgadis couldn't bear to look at his former companion any longer, so he staggered to the other side of the stable, letting his usually pent-up emotions loose.  
  
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Sir? Are you well?  
  
Zelgadis woke to a guard shaking him. He realized that he had collapsed into a bed of straw in one of the stalls. He quickly got up, brushing the loose straw out of his hair.  
  
Yes, I'm fine. What did you need? Zelgadis fought back a yawn.  
  
Prince Philionel has offered for you to dine with him at dinner, and a room has also been set aside for you as well. The guard replied.  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. That won't be necessary; I'm needed more here.  
  
  
  
Let Prince Phil know that I'll be needing my meals sent down here. A room also won't be necessary, as this stable is just fine. Zelgadis would never forgive himself if something were to happen to Amelia at this point.  
  
The guard gave him a puzzled look. But sir, surely you-  
  
Just do as I say! Zelgadis snapped.  
  
Yes sir! Did you need a blanket or anything?  
  
Yes, a blanket will do just fine. Zelgadis sighed.  
  
Yes sir, I'll let him know right away! The guard saluted Zelgadis, then marched back to the palace.  
  
Zelgadis shook his head as he went to go check on Amelia. He peered into the stall to be met again by those intense eyes. The wolf again snarled back at him.  
  
Zelgadis sighed, then retreated back to his corner of the stable.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
...does anyone even remember this story? (Argh, I have been neglecting it far too long!) Combine a busy year (what with taking trips, working, getting a new computer -twice!-, preparing for the Holidays, plus working on a different story) with extreme Writer's Block, and you get no story! Things are finally settling down again, and I don't want you all thinking I've abandoned this story. Far from it. I just wanted to make sure that what I put out is good. Now to get out the next part before next year... o_O  



	20. Evil is afoot

  
  
I could kill something right about now... Lina grumbled. She and Gourry had been traveling on horseback, searching for any remaining Wolfsbane, with no luck. They'd already been searching for half a week.  
  
Lina was beginning to lose hope on finding any at all.  
  
No, I can't think like that! It's not possible for anyone to have completely wiped it out! Lina clenched her fist in anger. If I don't find anything, Alexander will pay!  
  
Hey, Lina! Did you find something?  
  
Lina looked up from her musing to see Gourry much farther down the trail. No, not yet. I know we can't travel as fast on foot, but we'd be able to get a better look from the ground. Lina glanced about the earth as she spoke.  
  
I'm getting sick of these bushes. she scowled.  
  
Gourry trotted his horse back over to Lina's. Sorry Lina, I didn't hear you. Gourry smiled sheepishly at Lina.  
  
Never mind, Gourry. Lina sighed. Let's just keep going. She directed her horse to walk past Gourry's (as he was now facing the opposite way). C'mon, you. You've had enough to eat already! Lina yanked on the reins, only causing her faithful' steed to swish his tail in annoyance.  
  
Gourry's horse didn't appreciate getting a face full of hair, and decided to let the other horse know. He craned his neck forward and nipped Lina's horse on the rear.  
  
The startled horse in turn responded by rearing up, and as Lina hadn't been expecting it...  
  
Lina screamed as she tumbled out of the saddle and landed in the bushes.  
  
Gourry easily lept off of his horse and ran to the bush Lina had disappeared in to. Are you okay?  
  
Oow...stupid horse... This is why I walk! Lina started to ease herself off of the ground, but then caught sight of something. Her heart lept. Could it be? She pulled herself toward the plant of interest.  
  
Gourry peered in to the bush.  
  
Hang on, Gourry. Lina winced. She plucked the plant out of the ground and looked closer at it.   
  
Did you find something, Lina?  
  
We're out of here, Gourry! Lina shot up out of the bush with her quarry in hand. Ow! Okay, in a few minutes. Lina winced as she prepared to cast Recovery on her forming bruises...   
  


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The week passed pretty much in the same fashion, although Phil stopped coming by so frequently after he was nearly mauled...twice. As for Zelgadis, he could at least get close enough to feed the wolf without her trying to attack, but she wouldn't let him get close enough to touch her.  
  
Zelgadis looked out into the early evening sky. He had been waiting a whole month for this. He just hoped it wasn't already too late for Amelia. As the sun set, the full moon shone in full force. Zelgadis became aware of the small sounds of distress coming from the wolf.  
  
When she had grown silent, Zelgadis dared a peek. He saw Amelia, human once more, sprawled out on the ground. Zelgadis' heart lept at seeing this, but he shut his eyes in embarrassment as he draped his blanket over her still form.  
  
Then he waited.  
  
And waited...  
  
After an eternity, her eyes finally opened. Amelia took in her surroundings and gave a cry of joy.  
  
You're okay! Amelia wrapped her arms around Zelgadis' waist.  
  
Zelgadis snapped back into consciousness. He looked down at her, a slight forlorn smile on his face. It was thanks to you.  
  
Amelia looked at him in wonder. It wasn't a dream? I was able to get to everyone in time? Amelia glanced behind Zelgadis. But where are Miss Lina and Mister Gourry?  
  
They've been gone for the past week, looking for Wolfsbane.  
  
A-a week? How can that be? Amelia looked up at Zelgadis in confusion.  
  
Zelgadis noted the slight panic in her voice.  
  
I remember coming to help, and then...waking up just now. Why can't I remember the past week? ...and why am I in the stable? Amelia wrinkled her nose at the smell of hay, quickly realizing that she was laying in it. She gasped as she also realized all that she had on was a blanket. Blushing, she pulled the blanket closer around her.  
  
Zelgadis noticed her distress and quickly looked the other way. About that...you haven't exactly been yourself the past week.  
  
Amelia covered her mouth in shock. Tears welled up in her eyes. She turned away to wipe them dry.  
  
Zelgadis was unsure what to make of it, so he remained silent.  
  
Having regained her composure, Amelia cleared her throat. Being trapped in that cursed form...I-I feel myself dying. Mister Zelgadis, I-I d-don't know if I-I'll be able to make it to the next full moon. Amelia was openly sobbing now.  
  
Zelgadis remained silent. He never was any good providing solace, plus the thought of Amelia's will being overcome terrified him. Still, he had to try, for Amelia's sake!  
  
Of course you will. You've overcome too much to let this get the better of you!  
  
Lame as it sounded to Zelgadis, his little pep talk seemed to do the trick. Amelia stopped sobbing and looked up at him, giving him a small smile.  
  
You're right! I can't let it defeat me! A true Champion of Justice would never give up so easily! Amelia pumped her fist.  
  
During her spiel, Zelgadis glanced out a nearby window to see dawn approaching. _Lina, where are you?  
  
_Amelia's body suddenly tensed up, and she gasped in pain. M-Mister Zelgadis, if I don't make it, please let Daddy know I love him. Also, t-thank Miss Lina and Mister Gourry for all the trouble they went through to help me. And Mister Zelgadis, I...I! Amelia gave a cry of pain.  
  
Don't speak, Amelia, just concentrate on fighting it. You did it once, you can do it again! Zelgadis tried not to sound desperate as he could only look on in horror.  
  
Amelia grit her teeth and silently fought the oncoming transformation. She began to thrash about wildly.  
  
Zelgadis could only watch, unable to do anything to help. Already her teeth were elongating, and claws were forming at the tips of her fingers.  
  
Hurry, Gourry! This way!  
  
Zelgadis looked up. Could it be? The door to the stable was flung open rather violently. Zelgadis was instantly up on his feet.  
  
Lina! Gourry! Over here, quickly! Zelgadis waved at them wildly.  
  
Lina and Gourry easily spotted him, and ran to his side.  
  
Do you have it? Zelgadis practically pleaded.  
  
Yes, but I'm not quite sure how to use it. Lina pulled out the small vial, containing the concoction made from the Wolfsbane she had found.  
  
Zelgadis glanced down to see Amelia couldn't hold out much longer. We don't have time, think of something!  
  
Amelia began to howl in intense pain.  
  
Lina lept to action. Zelgadis, hold her arms down! Gourry, hold her head still! Lina knelt down next to Amelia and forced her mouth open, pouring in the contents of the vial.  
  
Amelia choked and coughed, but continued to struggle. Now her face was beginning to elongate into a muzzle...  
  
It's not working! Gourry panicked, but kept his hold.  
  
It has to! Lina replied, also panicking.  
  
Keep fighting, Amelia! Zelgadis yelled in Amelia's ear, hoping she could still hear him.  
  
Amid the choking and coughing, Amelia finally gave one last gasp, then slumped back limply to the ground.  
  
Lina shook her shoulder, not getting a response. Lina began to shake as tears stung her eyes.  
  
You did what you could. Gourry comforted Lina as she cried into his shoulder.  
  
Zelgadis bent over Amelia's prone form to see if she was still breathing.  
  
She's not dead. He whispered, as if not believing it himself.  
  
Lina choked out.  
  
She's still breathing, although very weakly. We've got to move her someplace better to recover. Zelgadis replied, trying to keep his composure intact.  
  
Lina wiped the tears off of her cheek. Let's get her to her room.  
  


------------------------------------------------------------------------   


  
Stupid, stinking scum! They just had to ruin my dreams! All that work..wasted! Alexander paced about in his cell.  
  
Well well, this is disappointing, although not unexpected.  
  
Alexander whirled around, having thought he was all alone. It's you! Have you come to help me?  
  
The newcomer smiled. Now now, we had a deal. My mistress gave you everything you requested, and yet you still managed to fail.  
  
Everything was going fine until those people interfered! Alexander spat.  
  
The newcomer only shook his finger and tsked. You should have planned for that. Now then, you have to keep your part of the pact. He grinned maliciously.  
  
Alexander fell to his knees and gripped the man's cape. Please, just give me a secon-  
  
Alexander was instantly silenced forever as the intruder smashed his skull in with his staff.  
  
We can't have anyone know of Greater Beast Zelas Metallium's involvement in this, and the dead reveal no secrets. Xellos grinned as he left the same way he had come.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Augh! Again! I did it again! I meant to have this up much sooner... (I actually wanted to put it up on my birthday, but evil Writer's Block struck! I didn't have the first part already written out, so I had to make it up fresh from my mind to the computer screen. I hope it works...)  
  
Also, for anyone who remembers what I said way back in Chapter 1, I guess I lied! (I hadn't intended to include Xellos, but then as I was writing the next part and decided how to punish Alexander, THAT popped into my head!) I hope I made him evil enough. ^_-;;;  
  
Also, thanks to all the people that reviewed! I'm so glad people still read this! I just hope I can get past this darn Writer's Block so I can finish this up before spring!


	21. Will life ever be normal again?

Gourry knocked lightly on the door before coming in. Lina? Any news?  
  
Lina looked up from her seat. She was sitting by Amelia's bed keeping watch. Nothing new. She looks normal now, but she's not woken up yet. How's Zel doing?  
  
He came to my room just a little while ago, but he's just pacing back and forth. Gourry shrugged.  
  
Lina gave a weak smile as she shook her head. He was doing that out in the hall, but I chased him off. I can't blame him for worrying, though. Lina gave a yawn.  
  
Did you want me to take over? Gourry offered.  
  
Lina waved him off. No, not just yet. It's just dull sitting here. Lina turned back to the bed. No offense, Amelia, but if you'd even let us know you're still in there, it would liven things up.  
  
Amelia responded the same way she had been for the past day: she didn't flinch, twitch,or even moan; she just kept on breathing in and out, in and out...  
  
Lina shrugged. It was worth a shot.  
  
Lina and Gourry sat in silence for a moment, then Lina spied something under Amelia's pillow. She pulled it out, revealing a feather. Lina looked at it a moment, then smirked.  
  
Let's see if this gets your attention. Lina brushed the feather under Amelia's nose.  
  
Lina, I'll take over for you. Really. I think you should get some rest. Gourry eyed Lina's odd behavior.  
  
She again waved him off and continued to tickle the underside of Amelia's nose.  
  
At first nothing happened, but then Amelia began to cough and sputter.  
  
Zelgadis barged into the room in an instant. What do you think you're doing?!  
  
Lina shrieked and shot up out of her chair. Gourry also jumped and turned around to see a very angry Zelgadis.  
  
Gourry backed away from Lina. Lina was just- he was silenced by Lina's hand over his mouth.  
  
Lina laughed nervously. I was watching over Amelia, that's all. No need to get all freaky, Zel!  
  
Zelgadis spied the feather still gripped in Lina's hand. He glared back at her. Amelia needs rest, not you aggravating her! Get out!  
  
But Zel, I was just-  
  
Zelgadis practically shoved the two out the door before shutting it.  
  
Sheesh! Someone's grumpy! Lina grumbled.  
  
Well, you probably shouldn't have done that, Lina. Gourry replied.  
  
It's too late now. If he wants to stay up all night, fine. I'm going to bed. Lina stomped off down the hall.  
  
But Lina! Gourry followed after her.  
  
Zelgadis finally relaxed then went to sit by Amelia's side. She had settled back down into a deep sleep, which made him feel better. He brushed some loose hair away from her face, then placed his hand on her forehead.  
  
At least your temperature has gone down. Just concentrate on getting better, don't rush things. Zelgadis spoke softly.  
  
Amelia sighed, as if in response.  
  
Zelgadis gave a slight smile, then pulled her covers closer around her to keep her warm. He then settled back into the chair and prepared for a long night.  
  


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Amelia tiredly opened her eyes and looked around. She was struck with a sense deja vu when she saw Zelgadis sleeping nearby. Light shone in from a nearby window, letting her know it was morning.  
  
Wait! Morning! Was she...?  
  
Amelia tried to crane her neck to see herself, but her muscles cried out in pain. She quickly dropped that idea and instead tried to focus on how she felt. She thought she was laying flat on her back, but her body felt so numb it was hard to determine anything.  
  
Time to get an outside opinion...  
  
She attempted to call out to Zelgadis, but only a rasp escaped her throat.  
  
She quickly realized how painful that was. It felt like someone had scraped her throat into a bloody mess. A whimper of pain managed to escape instead.  
  
Zelgadis twitched, then began to stir. He was greeted with the sight of a very awake Amelia looking at him.  
  
Amelia, you're all right! He leaned in closer to her.  
  
Amelia wanted to respond to him, but her body would not yield. She tried her best to smile at him.  
  
Amelia, what's wrong? Zelgadis sensed that something wasn't right.  
  
She didn't want him to worry, so she mustered up the strength to breathe out, Tears sprang to her eyes as her throat screamed out in agony.  
  
Zelgadis nodded his head in understanding. I'll go get someone to help you. He got up to leave the room.  
  
As he reached the door, he could still feel Amelia's gaze on him. He turned back to see her looking pitifully at him. I won't be gone long, I promise. then he slipped out the door.  
  
Amelia tried to hold back the tears as she collected herself. She had definitely been able to speak, so that was a good sign. Why was her throat so raw, though?  
  
She stared at the door that Zelgadis had just exited through, straining her ears to hear anything. It felt like she had cotton in her ears. Everything was so quiet!  
  
She finally picked up on approaching footsteps and saw Zelgadis walk back in, a man in white robes accompanying him.  
  
The man kneeled down next to her and put his hand on her forehead. And how are we feeling today, Amy?  
  
Amelia stared blankly at the man. Who was he to be so informal with her?  
  
The man continued to look her over. What's wrong, is your throat sore?  
  
Amelia could only stare back, her body refusing to move.  
  
The man tsked, then resumed looking her over. When he was done, he pat her on the head. Just take it easy, you'll feel better in no time. He then gestured to Zelgadis, and the two walked back out into the hall.  
  
Amelia knew they must be talking about her, but try as she might, she couldn't hear anything. She finally admitted defeat and closed her eyes, lapsing back into unconsciousness.  


  
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Not good. The man, obviously a healer, shook his head.  
  
What's wrong with her? Zelgadis asked.  
  
I can't say for certain, but she's been put under horrible stress. Why, she didn't even seem to recognize me!  
  
Zelgadis paused. Should she?  
  
The healer stood a bit taller, Yes, I've been employed to the royal family since before she was even conceived. I was the one that delivered her, you know.  
  
Zelgadis cleared his throat while trying not to blush. He didn't need to know that much! Do you think it's affected her memory?  
  
In some ways, yes. She seemed at ease with you though, so her short-term memory is intact. The healer looked thoughtful.  
  
What should we do?  
  
For now, nothing. Just let her recover, and hope she regains her abilities.  
  
What if she doesn't? Zelgadis bit his tongue, not wanting to voice his concern. Okay, thank you. he replied instead.  
  
The healer smiled back at him. Thank you for alerting me. Now if you'll excuse me, I must let know Prince Philionel know. He bowed, then disappeared down the hall.  
  
Not sure what else to do, Zelgadis went back into Amelia's room. As soon as he entered through the door, he could feel her gaze on him. It was so hard to see her like this. To have been so full of life, and now and invalid; too weak to move.  
  
Zelgadis knelt by her bed. Amelia, do you need anything?  
  
As a matter of fact, she did. Amelia had no idea when she had quenched her thirst last, and part of the pain in her throat was from it being so dry.  
  
She looked from Zelgadis to a pitcher of water on her bed stand, hoping he'd understand.  
  
After a moment, he did. Zelgadis looked around uncomfortably. He'd much prefer if someone else were here to help her (someone who knew what they were doing!). Unfortunately there was only him, so he'd just have to do his best.  
  
He poured a glass of water and held it out to Amelia.  
  
Amelia stared at it with great intent, but her arm didn't even twitch in response.  
  
Oh, right. Sorry. Zelgadis mentally scolded himself. Then, being as careful as possible, he put his free hand behind Amelia's head and propped her up slightly, then placed the glass to her lips with the other.  
  
Now came the tricky part. Zelgadis tipped the glass, watching Amelia's face for any sign he was forcing too much water down her throat.  
  
After she had had enough, Amelia whispered a quiet, Thank you, then leaned back onto his arm. Zelgadis then lay her head gently back onto the pillow.  
  
Is there anything else I can do?  
  
Read to me? Amelia replied, but it came out as nothing more than a mere whisper.  
  
Zelgadis walked over to a nearby bookcase and browsed the selection. It seemed they were all books on fairy tales. That figures, he smirked. Zelgadis took a nondescript book off the shelf and flipped it open to a random page.  
  
He quickly clapped the book shut and glanced back to make sure Amelia hadn't seen. It wouldn't do well to read her diary!  
  
Choosing a safer book, Zelgadis want back to Amelia's side and began to read her a tale about a hero who slew a dragon to rescue his princess. No wonder Amelia was a hopeless romantic!  
  
About halfway through the story, Zelgadis noticed Amelia had nodded off. After making sure she was indeed fast asleep, Zelgadis quietly set the book on her bed stand, then tiptoed out of her room, being sure to quietly shut the door behind him.  
  


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Aww, he's so sweet! Lina mock-sighed as she burst into a fit of giggles.  
  
Caught by surprise, Zelgadis couldn't help but jump in fright, then glared at the two intruders. What do you want?  
  
Lina stopped giggling and looked at Zelgadis. What? You're not the only one who's concerned about her, you know.  
  
How is she? Gourry got right to the point.  
  
She's regained consciousness, but she's not able to move. Zelgadis shook his head.  
  
Ah! So that's why you helped her. Gourry grinned.  
  
Zelgadis nodded. Yes, that's why I, hey! Were you spying on me?  
  
Calm down, Zel. It's not like we haven't seen your good side before. Although you're much nicer to her than you've ever been to me. Lina pouted.  
  
She needs it more than you. Zelgadis turned away to hide his face. He was sure he was blushing.  
  
Hey, what's that supposed to mean?  
  
Guys, guys. Settle down. Gourry tried to stop a quarrel before it started.  
  
Gourry's right. We shouldn't argue here. Amelia needs to recover. Zelgadis nodded to the closed door.  
  
Excuses, excuses. Lina waved Zelgadis off.  
  
Zelgadis turned away from the two. I need to report to Prince Phil. Are you coming?  
  
You two go on ahead, I'll be along in a moment. Lina replied.  
  
After Gourry and Zelgadis had disappeared down the hall, Lina snuck quietly into Amelia's room. She spent a moment listening to Amelia's peaceful slumber.  
  
Hang in there, Amelia. Lina gently patted the sleeping girl's head, then crept out of the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
She walked down the hall, quickly catching up to Gourry and Zelgadis. The three then proceeded into Phil's study.  
  
Ah, good morning! I didn't realize you were all up already. Phil greeted them warmly.  
  
Yeah well, it was kind of a bad night. Lina replied.  
  
Phil lowered his gaze. How is she? My daughter?  
  
Zelgadis stepped forward. She's regained consciousness, but-  
  
Why didn't you say so? I must go see my beloved daughter! Phil nearly charged out of the room, but was held back by Lina and Gourry.  
  
She's not awake now! Lina exclaimed through grit teeth.  
  
Phil looked to Zelgadis.  
  
She's actually fallen back to sleep, so we thought it wise to let her regain her strength. Zelgadis replied.  
  
Oh, of course. Phil went back to his seat. The next time she wakes, I would like to be informed immediately.  
  
The trio nodded back.  
  
Prince! Prince! Loud shouts came from out in the hall. The door opened to reveal a shaking guard.  
  
What is it? Phil asked.  
  
The prisoner! Sir Alexander! He's dead! The guard wheezed.  
  
Everyone gasped in shock.  
  
When I went to go check on him, he was dead in his cell. The guard replied, trying to catch his breath.  
  
Any idea who did it? Lina asked.  
  
It looks like he took his own life.  
  
How pathetic! Lina shook her fist. Oh well, I guess he saved you the trouble, eh, Phil?  
  
Phil just shook his head. Such a wasted life.  
  
Prince, what should we do with the body? The guard asked.  
  
We'll give him a proper burial, of course.  
  
The guard bowed, then set off to carry out Phil's order.  
  
Lina gripped her fists in anger, but didn't say anything.  
  
What'll you do now, Prince Phil? Gourry asked.  
  
There's nothing more to do than wait for my daughter to recover. You will stay, won't you? Phil looked to each of them. Friends are important in trying times.  
  
Of course, Phil! We've come too far to leave now. Besides, I don't think Zelgadis would forgive me if I left. Lina winked.  
  
Zelgadis shot Lina a small scowl. Even if she was right, she didn't have to point it out.  
  
Thank you, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, and you, Mister Zelgadis. Seyruun will forever be indebted to you for helping us in our time of need. Phil smiled.  
  
Lina smiled back. Hey, what are friends for?  
  
Wow, I've been working on this fic for well over a year now! (Well, I had been working on it for half a year before I ever even posted it up. Man, how time flies!) So close to the end, and yet, so far away still! I'm horribly tempted to wrap this up within another chapter or so, but just last night I got some ideas on how to make it longer. I think it would be best to kill them off though (they're rather silly, methinks) so that I can finally complete this monster of a fic!  
  
This all would have come out much faster, but my friend and I started writing another fanfic for that Slayers contest (L/G this time, are you surprised?). I'll post it up as soon as I am able. And hopefully I'll figure out the best way to resolve this fiasco, too! ^_^;;;  
  
(And Stara, thanks for the reviews! I didn't mean to pick on Lina and have her fall off her steed, but from the few times she's been around horses in the anime and manga, she doesn't do well. She seems to lack much horse sense, so to speak. It's one thing to stay on a horse when it's just trotting -heck, I can do that!- but as soon as that changes... Let's just say I can see why Lina prefers to walk wherever she needs to go.)


	22. The end?

Amelia was bored. She had no idea how long she had been bedridden, but enough was enough! I never realized how dull my room is! Amelia sighed. Especially when I can't even walk to the bookshelf.  
  
Books. Zelgadis had read to her recently. Perhaps he left the book out? Amelia glanced over to the chair by her bed. Sure enough, he had left the book sitting there.  
  
When she had first come to, Amelia had been unable to move at all. Even now she could barely move her arm. I won't get any better by laying here.  
  
Her mind made up, Amelia concentrated on getting the book. At first her arm resisted, but finally she was able to will it out from under her bed sheets. Amelia smiled at her progress.  
  
She then reached out for the book, but it was too far away. Amelia's brow furrowed in disgust. I'll just have to get closer.  
  
Ever so slowly, Amelia was able to sidle along until she was at the edge of her bed. She again reached her hand out, but was still a few inches short!  
  
She strained with all her might. Closer...closer... With most of her upper torso teetering on the edge, Amelia finally reached the book!  
  
She gave a small shout of glee, then realized her predicament.  
  
Now what?  
  
As she pondered her actions, Amelia felt herself starting to slip off of the bed. Before she had time to yell, she had conked her head on the floor below. Then the book slid off if its perch and smacked her on the side of her jaw.  
  
  
  
Amelia glanced to the door, but no one came. It was a mixed blessing. She was glad there wasn't anyone to see the stupid situation she'd gotten in to, but that also meant that no one would be there to help her out of it.  
  
Just then, there was a knock at the door.  
  
Who is it? Amelia spoke quietly, if not in embarrassment.  
  
Zelgadis. I heard a strange sound and wanted to make sure you were okay.  
  
Amelia gasped. Not Zelgadis! Of all the people to see her half-fallen out of the bed. It wouldn't be just to lie though, not to mention she wasn't enjoying all of the blood rushing to her head.  
  
Amelia laughed nervously. Actually, I'm not. This was so embarrassing!  
  
She watched as the door opened and Zelgadis poked his head in.  
  
Zelgadis practically dove at her as he lifted her back up onto her bed.  
  
Thank you. Amelia blushed.  
  
What were you doing? You know you aren't allowed out of bed. Zelgadis reprimanded.  
  
Amelia frowned. I'm sorry, Mister Zelgadis. I was just so bored sitting here, and all I wanted to do was get that book. Amelia pointed at the book splayed open on the ground.  
  
Zelgadis gaped in amazement. Amelia, you moved your arm!  
  
Amelia smiled. I've been working at it. It's getting easier the more I try. Amelia proved her point by moving her other arm to rest on top of her blanket.  
  
That's...that's wonderful! I've got to tell the others. Zelgadis made to walk out the door, but turned back. You'll be all right, won't you? You're not going to try and get out of bed again, right?  
  
Amelia gestured to the floor again. Give me that book, and I won't have to.  
  
Zelgadis scooped up the book and held it out to Amelia.  
  
Amelia gradually reached out and gripped the book, taking it from Zelgadis' grasp. Thank you, Mister Zelgadis.  
  
Zelgadis looked sternly at Amelia, but then smiled slightly. I'm serious. Stay in bed.  
  
Yes, Mister Zelgadis. Amelia sighed quietly. She watched him leave, then turned her attention back to the book.  
  
Oh, it's too hard to read lying down! Sitting up in bed was definitely next on the agenda...  
  


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_  
It had been nearly a month since I was cured, and yet, I'm still stuck in bed! I can finally walk upright now, but only with assistance.  
  
_Amelia looked up from her journal, remembering having to crawl on her hands and knees to get what she needed, the journal included.  
  
_These past few months have been horribly demeaning. I never quite realized how cruel mankind could be until I was no longer human myself. Yet, despite all of the wrongs I was put through, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, and even Mister Zelgadis were there to see me through it.  
  
_Amelia smiled as she wiped a small tear out of her eye.  
  
_Miss Lina and Mister Gourry have been gone for over a week now, hoping to find any more of Alexander's followers. We've not heard anything from them yet, and I'm hoping they'll come back empty-handed. It would be nice to not have to worry about usurpers to the throne, if only temporarily.  
  
_Amelia reinked her quill, then continued on:  
  
_Mister Zelgadis has been my primary caretaker this whole time, for which I am grateful. I don't know how I would get by if all of my friends were to leave just yet. And yet, I know Mister Zelgadis isn't happy here. Already he has sacrificed so much time to help me, instead of pursuing a cure to his own condition. I know I can't keep him here forever. I care too much for his well-being, even if it means sacrificing my own. I  
  
_Amelia's thoughts were interrupted by knocking on her door. She looked up in a panic as she slammed her journal shut, shoving it under her pillow. Yes, who is it?  
  
It's me, Amelia. We have to talk. Zelgadis spoke in a subdued tone.  
  
Amelia frowned. It looked like he would be leaving much sooner than she had thought. Come in.  
  
Zelgadis smiled weakly as he entered her room and walked to the side of her bed. He glanced nervously about the room.  
  
Amelia looked up at him expectantly. What is it, Mister Zelgadis?  
  
Amelia, I...that is... he cleared his throat, still obviously nervous, What I mean to say is...  
  
When he didn't finish, Amelia simply replied, You're going to leave.  
  
Zelgadis nodded his head. Well...yes. It's been over a week since Lina and Gourry left, and we've yet to hear anything from them. I doubt there will be anyone to find.  
  
Amelia lowered her gaze. When will you go?  
  
Zelgadis looked at her somewhat awed. He had expected a more dramatic reaction, even opposition, not Amelia's quiet acceptance. First thing in the morning.  
  
Amelia looked out the window. Already the sun was setting for another day. Zelgadis would be gone in a few hours. She looked back up at Zelgadis' puzzled expression. I apologize, Mister Zelgadis. I never meant for you to get involved.  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. Amelia, what happened to you was not your fault.  
  
Amelia balled up her fists. But because of me, you had to stop your research for your cure! I know how important that is to you.  
  
Zelgadis knelt so that he and Amelia were at the same level. Yes, it is important to me, but if I had lost you...  
  
Mister Zelgadis? Now Amelia was the confused one.  
  
Zelgadis fought off a blush. That is, there are some things more important to me than being cured.  
  
Amelia smiled.  
  
Zelgadis smirked. Why else do you think I travel with Lina? Death threats aside, if I had ever truly wanted to, I would have just left.  
  
Amelia could only smile back, too happy for words.  
  
Zelgadis rose to his feet. I should be going. I still need to get ready to leave.  
  
Mister Zelgadis?  
  
Zelgadis turned to face Amelia again.  
  
Promise me you'll say good-bye?  
  
Of course. Zelgadis gave her a small wave, then left.  
  
Good night, Mister Zelgadis. Amelia sighed quietly.  
  
He was leaving again. She had known he wouldn't stay forever, but to leave so soon? She wouldn't even be able to follow after him. Perhaps that was why he was choosing now to leave.  
  
Amelia slid back under her covers, all intentions of finishing her journal entry forgotten. At least he had promised to say good-bye before he left. Amelia smiled as she closed her eyes. She'd make sure that she was awake and ready when he came again.  
  


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Daughter? Are you awake? Prince Phil knocked lightly on Amelia's door.  
  
Yes, Daddy, I'm up.  
  
Prince Phil stepped in to the room and over to her bed, enveloping his beloved daughter in a hug. He then released his hold and smiled warmly at Amelia. Are you feeling better today?  
  
Amelia nodded and smiled back.   
  
Breakfast will be ready soon. Did you want to come to the dining room today? He held out his arm, indication he would escort her now.  
  
Amelia gently shook her head no. No thanks, Daddy. Could you have some breakfast brought up for me?  
  
Of course. I'll go tell them now. He paused before leaving. I saw that Mister Zelgadis' room is empty. Did he leave already?  
  
Amelia nodded her head. Yes, he has his own affairs to take care of.  
  
Prince Phil thought a moment, nodding his head. Such a driven young man. He again smiled warmly at his daughter. I'll come check on you later, Amelia.  
  
Okay. Thanks, Daddy.  
  
When he had left, Amelia turned back to the letter in her hand:  
  
_Amelia-  
Sorry for not waking you, but I left earlier than originally planned. Say good-bye to Lina and Gourry for me; you'll more likely see them sooner than I. Don't overexert yourself while I'm away. I expect to see you back to normal on my return.  
-Zelgadis  
  
_Amelia scanned the letter for anything more, but that was it. No , take care, or even . How like Zelgadis. Amelia couldn't help but smile. The fact that he even took the time to write her a good-bye had to mean something, right?  
  
She carefully placed the letter in her journal, then waited for breakfast to arrive. Zelgadis said he would be back. The next time he came, she'd be ready for him!  
  


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A lone shadow floated just outside Amelia's window, content to watch the princess eat.  
  
Poor Miss Amelia. To think that will be the last time you'll see them. Xellos smirked as he phased out.  
  
This time, there would be no failure.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
What, you were expecting Zelgadis? Man, after months of Writer's Block, I am finally done!! When I originally conceived this idea, I had no intentions of it going where it did. I was originally going to give Amelia better insight to Zelgadis' issues with humanity (and Zelgadis releasing how human he still was), but it didn't work out that way.  
  
I had NEVER intended for Xellos to be in this story either, but things just made more sense with him being there. (He's so evil!)  
  
As to whether there will be a sequel, I have no idea. I was hoping this story would stand alone, but as I was writing the ending, ideas on where to take a sequel invaded my brain! (I blame you, Lina Gabriev! ^_-) All I can say is, if I do ever write a sequel, it will be dark. Much darker than this fic even turned out to be. I really don't want to write it because it will make me sad, and yet...these ideas won't go away!  
  
For now, this is the end! Is it any good, or did this story end up being a wasted read? I'd love to hear your thoughts!


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